Download PGN of September ’25 1 e4 e5 games
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Petroff Defence 3.d4 exd4!? [C43]
We start with a line I covered last December, namely 4.e5 Ne4 5.Qxd4 d5 6.exd6 Nxd6 7.Nc3 Nc6 8.Qf4 h6!?:
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This is the first time it’s been repeated, and White still seemed unfamiliar with it, repeating 9.h4 in Yakubboev, N - Moussard, J. He was already in pretty big trouble with white by move 15, although the draw in the end was a fair result.
Giuoco Piano 5.Bg5 h6 6.Bh4 a6 [C50]
A key tabiya was reached via the move order 7.0-0 d6 8.c3 Ba7 9.Nbd2 g5 10.Bg3:
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Here Black’s recommended approach has been the flexible 10...Qe7, intending to meet 11.d4 with 11...Bd7! and castling long. Instead 10...Nh7!? 11.d4 h5 was interesting but risky, and Gukesh needed to meet 12.dxe5 with 12...h4! grabbing the piece, as scary as the lines look. Instead he was quickly lost and White picked up the full point after many adventures in Mishra, A - Gukesh, D.
Two Knights 8.Qf3 [C58]
We have two games in this line this month - firstly in Lu, M - Beydullayeva, G Black played 8...Be7!? 9.Bd3 0-0 10.Nc3:
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Here 10...g6 was already a risky innovation and her kingside ended up falling apart, but she missed a beautiful chance to draw at the end with a queenside attack. An exciting game!
Two Knights: 4...Be7 5.0-0 0-0 6.a4 a5 [C55]
Then Firouzja, A - Yakubboev, N followed perhaps the most critical line with 8...cxb5 9.Qxa8 Qc7 10.Qf3 Nc6 11.c3 Bg4 12.Qg3 Nd4 13.Na3 Ne2 and Alireza followed the previous game I looked at here with 14.Qe3!?:
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Yakubboev seemed caught off-guard, although I would have liked to have seen what Alireza had in mind against 15...Nd5. Anyway, Black played well for a long time but one slip proved decisive and Alireza prevailed.
Spanish, Anti-Berlin 4.d3 d6!? [C65]
I think the first time I have covered this system in this column - a good choice for King’s Indian players, although I don’t know how that overlaps with the initial choice of the Berlin! White chose the rare 5.d4!? in Bjerre, J - Gumularz, S:
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This is not so easy for Black to face, although I would still recommend 5.0-0 for White with d4 to come. After 5...Bd7 6.d5 Ne7 7.Bd3 Ng6 a very fighting position was reached where Jonas was doing well but drifted at a bad time and fell victim to a kingside attack.
Spanish, Anti-Marshall 8.a4 b4 9.d4 [C88]
Our final three games will all be taken from this system, starting after 9...d6 10.dxe5 Nxe5. In the first, White chose 11.Bf4 Ng6 12.Bg3 Bb7 13.Nbd2 Nd7 14.Nc4:
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Here 14...Nc5 still seems like a reliable equaliser, whilst 14...a5 was not a bad novelty but needed a moment of precision with an instructive idea on move 22. Once that was missed, Black was suffering in a bad ending and succumbed in Efroimski, M - Beydullayeva, G.
The other games concern the position after 11.Nbd2, where Van Foreest, J - Anton Guijarro, D saw the main line with 11...Nfd7 12.Nd4 Bb7:
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Here the main 13.Bd5 still doesn’t seem so easy for Black to deal with, whilst 13.Nf1!? was rare and led to a very double-edged game where Anton was outplayed leading up to the time control.
11...a5!? is a very decent alternative for Black seen the next day in Pranav, V - Esipenko, A. White has many options, but 12.h3!? Bb7 13.Nxe5 dxe5 14.Qf3 was sensible:
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Here Black’s best line involves ...Bc5 and meeting Bg5 with ...Ra6! - showing one idea behind the 11th move. Andrey mixed things up a little but the game continued to be full of interest right into the ending, where Pranav eventually wore down his opponent and won on move 98.
All the best, Harry
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