Download PGN of March '14 Flank Openings games
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Réti Opening 2...b5 [A05]
In Artemiev - Khismatullin Artemiev goes for an interesting idea with 7.c4:
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and easily gets a better position. 13.Bc6 was good for an advantage and again I think that this is a nice setup for White against 2...b5.
Réti 2 c4 d4 3 e3 [A09]
Neverov - Balogh was a game with plenty of chances for both players, and probably decided in time trouble. White's way to play with 10.g4 is logical:
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and the position will always be full of life. Black can try to avoid this idea with 9...Qd7.
Réti pawn sac, 7...Be6 8 Ne5 [A10]
Aronian - Andreikin was one of the decisive games in the first half of the Candidates tournament. Aronian was trying to catch Anand and he played a good line to put his opponent under pressure:
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After some good moves Andreikin could not resist and made a few inaccuracies. And then something strange happened, Aronian lost control in a winning position and went into a drawn endgame.
Gurevich's System 4...Nbd7 5 Qc2 e5 [A11]
We can always expect good opening ideas in the Candidates and Topalov - Anand was no exception. Anand played an unusual idea against Topalov with 5...e5:
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and he easily neutralized White's efforts to get an advantage with a correct pawn sacrifice. I think this is a good antidote against the lines without d4.
Réti 4...dxc4 5 0-0 a6 and ...b5 [A13]
In Kuzubov - Neverov Black goes for 5...a6, which is provocative, and Kuzubov proved that he was ready for it. Here is the position after 8 d3!:
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Afterwards Black had an interesting alternative on move 11, which would lead to unclear consequences.
Symmetric English Nimzovich's 5 e4, 6 Bb5+ [A34]
In Grigoriants - Volokitin Grigoriants goes for a line which is out of fashion, but full of poison:
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Volokitin was apparently not prepared for this variation and soon got punished. 12...f5? cannot be recommended.
Symmetric Rubinstein's Variation 8 a3 [A34]
White tries a triple pawn sacrifice in Xiu Deshun-Zhou Jianchao to keep Black's king in the center:
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The idea is interesting, but after a big inaccuracy on move 18 the extra material made all the difference.
Pure Symmetrical Mainline 10 Qd3 Be6 [A39]
Svidler - Kramnik was one of the few games where it's possible to see Kramnik caught without any good preparation. Svidler leaves the opening with the better position:
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and later Kramnik had to find some truly amazing resources to hold the game.
Till next time, Alex.
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