We have a Candidates special for April, which unfortunately also means a complete lack of Ruy Lopez. Instead we look at some of the early sidelines that Bluebaum had to deal with, as well as some more theoretical ideas from the Women’s section.

Vienna Game
Petroff Defence
Scotch Game
Italian Game
Two Knights

Vienna Game 3.Bc4 Nc6 4.d3 Bb4 [C24]

Our first game saw a fairly standard position reached in Wei, Y - Bluebaum, M after 5.Nf3 d5 6.exd5 Nxd5 7.0-0 Bxc3 8.bxc3 Bg4:

Black is very solid but still came under pressure after some creative play by Wei Yi, including a4-a5 and Ra4-h4 eventually being sacrificed on h6! A fun game worth playing through in full.

Vienna Game
Petroff Defence
Scotch Game
Italian Game
Two Knights

Petroff Defence 4.Nc4!? [C42]

It took a long time in the tournament for anyone to consider playing 4.Nf3, but the most successful of White’s Petroff sidelines was found in Caruana, F - Bluebaum, M. Play continued 4...Nxe4 5.Nc3 Nxc3 6.dxc3 d5 7.Ne3 c6 8.Bd2 g6 9.f4!:

Black has other options along the way which should be preferred from a practical standpoint, since Fabi was able to follow up Qf3/0-0-0 with a devastating kingside attack - much more fun than what one can normally expect to achieve against the Petroff.

Petroff Defence 4.Nd3 Nxe4 5.Nc3 [C42]

One final Bluebaum game, and another interesting idea by White in Praggnanandhaa, R - Bluebaum, M. This time 5...d5 was met by 6.Nf4 d5 7.d4 Be7 8.Qf3!?:

Here Black’s best is likely 8...Nc6!, whilst the natural 8...c6 of the game again gives White good chances of reaching an opposite-side castling position. Pragg unfortunately miscalculated at two critical moments later on and Black managed to salvage a draw.

Vienna Game
Petroff Defence
Scotch Game
Italian Game
Two Knights

Scotch: 4...Nf6 5.Nxc6 bxc6 6.e5 Qe7 7.Qe2 Nd5 8.g3!? [C45]

This rare option soon became even rarer after White delayed c4 completely with 8...g6 9.Bg2 in Lagno, K - Goryachkina, A:

This seemed to be a semi-bluff where Black later could and should have captured the e5-pawn, but was afraid to with her opponent still in preparation and ended up positionally lost a couple of moves later.

Scotch: 4...Nf6 5.Nxc6 bxc6 6.Qe2!? [C45]

An interesting sideline seen in Assaubayeva, B - Muzychuk, A which is probably better met with something like 6...Bc5. Instead 6...Qe7 hopes for a transposition to the main line, but 7.Nc3 d5?! 8.exd5 was already difficult for Black:

Black reaches some version of an unpleasant ending by force and the opposite-coloured bishop ending that was finally achieved was very interesting to analyse, but very difficult to hold practically for Black and she eventually succumbed.

Vienna Game
Petroff Defence
Scotch Game
Italian Game
Two Knights

Giuoco Piano 4.0-0 Nf6 5.d3 0-0 6.Nbd2 d6 7.c3 a5 [C54]

The game that really ended Fabi’s chances to push for first came in Round 9 with a disappointing loss with White. The game followed a logical path with 8.h3 Be6 9.Bb5 Ba7 10.Re1 Ne7 11.d4 Ng6 12.Bd3 Nh5 13.Nf1 Nhf4 in Caruana, F - Giri, A:

Here the most popular move is the natural 14.Bc2, but instead 14.Ng3!? seems like good understanding of not overvaluing the bishop pair in this type of position. Fabi’s later decision to close the centre with 16.d5?! was what led to his eventual demise, however.

Giuoco Piano 4.d3 h6 5.c3 Bc5 6.b4 Be7 [C54]

We finish with two theoretical efforts with Zhu Jiner having the White pieces. Initially, a stem game Sindarov-Grandelius was followed up to 7.0-0 0-0 8.Bb2 a6 9.a4 d5 10.exd5 Nxd5 11.b5 axb5 12.axb5 Rxa1 13.Bxa1 Na5 14.Bxd5 Qxd5 15.c4 Qd8:

Now the 16.Bc3! of Zhu, J - Goryachkina, A seems like a good improvement but Black was well-prepared too and eventually took the full point after a very high-level fight.

Vienna Game
Petroff Defence
Scotch Game
Italian Game
Two Knights

Two Knights 4...Be7 5.0-0 0-0 6.Nc3 d6 7.a4 Na5 8.Ba2 c5 [C55]

Back to Round 1 for our final game, with the most visually appealing opening idea of the event. The line continues with 9.Bg5 Nc6 10.Bxf6 Bxf6 11.Nd5 g6 12.c3 Bg7 13.Qd2 Bg4 14.Ng5!?:

The idea was to meet 14...h6 with 15.f4!, which will always regain the piece with ideas of f4-f5 trapping the bishop on g4. One inaccuracy saw White lose her advantage however and the game fizzled out to a draw in Zhu, J - Tan, Z.

Vienna Game
Petroff Defence
Italian Game
Two Knights

Happy Candidates! Harry

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