The Very Latest Developments
The July 2002 UpdateWelcome to the July update - let's get straight to the chess! TonyK |
All this month's new games are easily downloaded in PGN format using ChessPub.exe, but to download the July '02 Flank Openings games directly in PGN form click here: 
English Opening
1...e5
A20: It is not very often that you see a completely new move as early as move seven in the Reversed Dragon, but in Azmaiparashvili,Z - Kotronias,V White manages just that. Objectively the move is no better than the others, but it did manage to pose Black some slightly different problems.
A20: In the Keres, following 1 c4 e5 2 g3 Nf6 3 Bg2 c6 4 d4 exd4 5 Qxd4 d5 6 Nf3 Be6!? we have considered the IQP position arising after 7 cxd4 in some detail, but what about 7 Ng5!? simply threatening to capture the bishop?
            
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This seems to be fine for Black, too, see Xu Jun - Christiansen,L.
After last month's scintillating display, this time we see Big Larry refusing simple equality and playing all-out in an endgame, to his cost!
A25: Next up, two games involving the 'Staunton piece set-up' in the Closed lines.
First, a medley of Misha's efforts in the notes to Gurevich,M - Gagunashvili,M, and then Kosten,A - Touzane,O, my best game from the Montpellier tournament, against a young Frenchman who will forever be remembered as 'the guy who nearly knocked out Vishy'!
Incidentally, in this last game I quickly obtained the following pawn structure:
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Which is very pleasant for White: there are two nice squares for his knights on f4 and d5, and once they are there it is almost impossible for Black to chase these pieces away without severely compromising his pawn structure.
A29: The wild main line Reversed Dragon of Bareev,E - Topalov,V features a Fischer-like piece sacrifice to claim light-squared control.
1...c5
A33: A strong, and surprising, new move for Black proves more than enough to equalise in Gelfand,B - Topalov,V.
1...Nf6 & others
A10: In Kharlov,A - Minasian,A we consider lines where Black plays 1...f5, White counters this by avoiding d4, and instead playing d3 and e4 (aiming for a Botvinnik System) but Black in his turn avoids an early ...Nc6. The advantage of this is that he may be able to play ...c5 first, and then ...Nc6-d4, with interesting chances.
A18: Leo Martinez writes: "I was wondering about a line in the English opening. After 1 c4 Nf6 2 Nc3 e6 3 e4 d5 4 e5 d4 5 ef6 dc3 6 bc3 Qf6 7 Nf3 (or 7 d4 transposing I would think) e5, you say that 8 d4 is rarely played nowadays. I play this line on occasion as Black and I was just wondering what is wrong with this move and what I can do against it."
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Well Leo, this is a good question, and I may have been a bit hasty in condemning this old line as in both our recent games Timman,J - Naiditsch,A and Rasmussen,K - Rozentalis,E White manages to make his extra space and development advantage count!
Réti
A13: In an endgame it is often thought that three pawns is worth more than a piece, but if the pawns are not going anywhere, and just tie pieces down to their own defence, it is the extra piece that has the edge, see Bu Xiangzhi - Li Wenliang.
e-mails
Don't forget to pop over to my June E-mailbag!
Please feel free to share any of your thoughts with me, whatever they are, suggestions, criticisms (just the polite ones, please), etc. Drop me a line at tonykosten@chesspublishing.com
Till next month, Tony K