Download PGN of September '13 Flank Openings games
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Gurevich's System 3 e3 Bg4 [A11]
Two of the best Argentinean players go for a thematic duel in a rare and interesting line, 3...Bg4!?:
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Despite the 3-0 score for Flores in the games, the position is far from clear, see Flores, D - Peralta, F.
Réti Opening 4...dxc4, 7...b6 8 e4 [A13]
In Cornette, M - Sokolov, A, White's 8.e4 is a rare approach in a known position, and 8...a5 was played before by Morozevich, attempting to punish White for the opening of the a6-f1 diagonal:
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Still, it's a committal move and after White's pawn sacrifice Black was under pressure for the rest of the game.
Mikenas Attack 3...d5 4 cxd5 [A18]
One more time White goes for 4.cxd5 in Aronian, L - Lysyj, I, but played 6.Nf3 instead of the 6.d4 analyzed in Ding - Wey in July, probably based on another game from Lisyj. Soon something went wrong for Aronian and Lisyj could have given him big problems.
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In the above diagram position I would take a look at playing 10.Nxd4 instead of 10.Nb5.
Four Knights 4 g3 Bb4, 6...Bxc3 [A29]
Against the solid 6...Bxc3 White goes for the 8.Ne1!? idea:
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I like this variation and it's making a lot of points lately. In Dubov, D - Fedorchuk, S White created a strong attack on the kingside and won without any problems.
Double-Fianchetto Variation 9 b3 [A30]
Eljanov, P - Karjakin, S was a tense match in the World Cup and they played 3 games in the same line with 9.b3 Nbd7 10.Bb2 0-0 11.Rfd1:
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In all three games Karjakin tried a solid idea of exchanging the knight on c3 and holding the position. The plan is hard to break and I think the move order of the last game is better than the one played before.
Hedgehog 7 Re1 [A30]
Aroshidze tries to innovate with 13...h5?! in a position which I consider dangerous for Black. After an 'automatic' answer from White, Black got an improved version of normal lines. Instead, after 14.f5, I'm not convinced that Black had anything prepared:
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Symmetrical Four Knights 6 a3 [A33]
6.a3 has been a good weapon the last few years and there is still room for improvements for both sides:
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In Banusz, T - Georgescu, T White's 13.Qe1 is a good new move (however, first played in correspondence as usual) and Black soon got into trouble. I would take a look at 13...Na5.
Pure Symmetrical with early ...d5 [A38]
The Poikovsky Tournament is always a source of good games and this one was a surprise as I discovered that it had all been played before until move 20! Black is holding well so 13...b6 can probably be repeated in strong tournaments:
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See Jakovenko, D - Cheparinov, I.
Till next time, Alex.
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