Dec '99 Update
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Greetings, Merry Christmas and a happy New Year to you all. Let's get all the jive out of the way at the start. If you're thinking of going out partying, TAKE IT EASY. Stay at home and curl up with ChessPublishing.com. instead. It's easier, cheaper and a lot more fun!?
Hot New Ideas
Some terrific chess this month. There's some right old hanky-panky in the Four Pawns which should titillate and amuse, and check out a fantastic innovation by Miso Cebalo after 1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 g6 3 Nc3 Bg7 4 e4 d6 5 h3 0-0 6 Bg5 Qe8!
                   
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Watch how he blows a strong and solid GM completely out of the water with this ultra-flexible idea.
Then observe a couple of games from Wolfgang Uhlmann in the one of the sharpest lines of the Averbakh, eg 1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 g6 3 Nc3 Bg7 4 e4 d6 5 Be2 0-0 6 Bg5 c5 7 d5 h6 8 Be3 e6 9 dxe6 Bxe6 10 Qd2 Qa5!? 11 Bxh6 Bxh6 12 Qxh6 Nxe4 13 Rc1
  
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Believe me, Uhlmann's games are always worth a look.
Mailbag
We round off this month with an interesting e mail from subscriber Douglas Smith who asks for comments on 1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 g6 3 Nc3 Bg7 4 e4 d6 5 f3 0-0 6 Be3 Nc6 7 Rb1!?, Berliner's unusual suggestion against the Samisch Panno. You'll find this in the emailbag section.
Plus I`ll round up some earlier questions from my November mailbag.
Keep cool,
IM Andrew Martin
Annotated Games
Samisch
KI297 Black tries a very interesting way of mixing up the game. After ten years of experience, I still believe that 9...Bd7 is the best way to counter White's system 5 f3 and 6 Bg5. I thoroughly recommend it.
KI292 Tal tries out a sacrificial idea of Nezhmetdinov to devastating effect. His opponent seems completely ill at ease throughout the game.
Four Pawns
KI288 Games like these increasingly suggest that 9...Re8 will no longer be thought of as 'The Main Line' here. Probably 9...Bg4 or 9...b5 are more reliable. Simply put, Black has too much theory to contend with,and please do not try to rehabilitate 12..f6?! It's simply no good.
KI293 Rare,speculative and.......dangerous! White cedes control of d4 in order to start a Kingside attack. He hopes ( rather ambitiously) that Black won't have enough counterplay in the centre.
Fianchetto
KI291 White tries a very odd-looking move which doesn't appear to have any real meaning. The oddity is compounded by his follow-up. Maybe White's approach falls into the category of 'high class waiting moves'. Can the Panno Variation be threatened by these calculating means?
Bg5 Systems
KI294 A super game by Black. Could 6...Qe8 be the antidote to one of the best-scoring White systems of the 1990's?
KI289 I've always been a fan of Wolfgang Uhlmann. His games have a pulsating energy which is hard to match. At his peak during the sixties and seventies, he was one of the very best players in the World.
KI290 Is Uhlmann trying to rehabilitate another variation or has he just forgotten that it's supposed to be bad for Black? If a King's Indian genius like Uhlmann can't come up with something, it seems prudent to give this line a wide berth.
Classical
KI296 Elegant control displayed by White in a line critical to the survival chances of 7...Na6.
KI295 White adopts a somewhat pensive method of countering Black's elastic 7...Na6 which frankly doesn't look too frightening.