Download PGN of February ’26 d-Pawn Specials games
The Trompowsky: 2...Ne4 3 Bf4 d5 4 e3 c5 5 Nd2 [A45]
After 1 d4 Nf6 2 Bg5 Ne4 3 Bf4 d5 4 e3 c5 the trendy move remains 5 Nd2, which continues to catch some black players out. Unlike after 5 Bd3, here 5...Nc6?! definitely asks too much of Black’s position, with 6 Nxe4 dxe4 7 d5 just good for White:
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Black isn’t helped here by 7...g5?! or 7...Nb4 8 c3! (8...Nxd5 9 Bb5+ is the point), and 7...e5 8 Bg3 Ne7 offers White a pleasant choice between 9 Bb5+ and the 9 Bxe5 of Obgolts, E - Dambaev, D, which landed up as a rather chaotic draw.
The Trompowsky: 2...Ne4 3 h4 c5 4 d5 Qb6 5 Nd2 Nxd2 6 Bxd2 [A45]
The 2600 Armenian Grandmaster Haik Martirosyan has recently been having some fun online with 1 d4 Nf6 2 Bg5 Ne4 3 h4. We’ll take a look at some of his recent games after 3...c5 4 d5, where I still don’t especially like 4...Qb6 5 Nd2 Nxd2?! 6 Bxd2 for Black, and if 6...d6 7 e4:
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Here 7...Qxb2? just feels too greedy, with 8 Rb1 one good reply and 8 Nf3! another, playing just as White does in the case of the immediate capture on b2 (6...Qxb2 7 Nf3). After 8...Qa3?! 9 h5!? Black was already under heavy pressure and went down quickly in Martirosyan, H - Suyarov, M.
The Trompowsky: 2...c5 3 d5 Ne4 4 Nd2 [A45]
After 1 d4 Nf6 2 Bg5 c5 3 d5 Ne4 White has one option which isn’t available if Black goes ...Ne4 before ...c5, namely 4 Nd2!?:
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This definitely wins the prize for most shocking move of the month! Still, it’s actually not bad and was used of late by Alex Shabalov. The point is, of course, 4...Nxg5 5 h4, which regains the piece. Black has a few options here (perhaps 5...e5!? is best), but in all cases White retains definite compensation, as we’ll see in Shabalov, A - Vershinin, I.
The Trompowsky: 2...d5 3 e3 c5 4 Bxf6 gxf6 [D00]
A key battleground after 1 d4 Nf6 2 Bg5 remains 2...d5 3 Bxf6 gxf6 4 e3 c5, where White doesn’t have to take on c5. We’ll examine two alternatives to that in Paltinieri, N - Schlosser, P, where 5 c4 cxd4 6 Qxd4!? reflected a growing trend:
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Here 6...Nc6!? is very much an option for Black, as is just 6...dxc4 7 Qxd8+ Kxd8 8 Bxc4 e6, which equalised in Peter Wells’ view back in his classic Trompowsky work in 2003, and still seems correct nowadays, as we’ll see in our main game.
We move on to 5 dxc5 and an important battle from the Rilton Cup in Xu Xiangyu - Sai, K, where 5...e6 6 Nf3 Nd7!? 7 c4 dxc4 8 Bxc4 Nxc5 was a slightly unusual approach from Black:
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It’s far from a bad one though and while White pressed after 9 Qc2, Black was holding his own until stumbling in a surprisingly intricate queen endgame.
The London: 3...c5 4 e3 Bd6 5 Bd3 [D02]
After 1 Nf3 d5 2 d4 Nf6 3 Bf4 e6 4 e3 Bd6 many London players automatically go 5 Bg3, but 5 Bd3!? is perfectly viable too, and if 5...Bxf4 6 exf4 Qd6 7 Qd2:
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I suspect that Black should be OK in this key position, but after 7...b6 8 Nc3 c5 9 h4 White’s position is perhaps the easier to handle and he went on to record a very powerful victory in Van Foreest, J - Keymer, V. Jorden van Foreest actually wasn’t the first to play this way though and the earlier 9...a6!? from Tabatabaei-Anton Guijarro is likely the critical continuation.
The Torre Attack: 2...e6 3 Bg5 d5 4 e3 c5 5 c3 Nc6 6 Nbd2 Bd6 [D03]
Via a 1 d4 Nf6 2 Bg5 e6 3 Nd2 move order and then 3...d5 4 e3 c5 5 c3 Nc6 6 Ngf3 one of the main lines of the Torre arises, where I’m still not totally sold on 6...Bd6 for Black. The issue is what to do after 7 Bd3 0-0 8 0-0 h6 9 Bh4:
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Here 9...e5?! looks natural, but runs into the powerful 10 e4! and it’s even hard to have full confidence in 9...Re8!?, as proposed by Stockfish 18. That leaves 9...b6, but then 10 e4! is good, as was 10 Qe2!? in Vrolijk, L - Nijboer, F, where the younger Dutch GM ran out a convincing winner.
Let’s hope for more such instructive games next month! Until then, Richard
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