ForumHelpSearchMy ProfileSite InfoGuests InfoRepertoireLinks
As promised there's plenty of Bg5 action this month with two ChessPublishing columnists very much to the fore.

Download PGN of September ’16 d-Pawn Specials games

>> Previous Update >>


The Trompowsky 2...Ne4 3 h4 [A45]

I'm pleased to see that I'm not the only player attracted to 1 d4 Nf6 2 Bg5 Ne4 3 h4!?. Max Illingworth is another and was able to sacrifice with 3...c5 4 d5 Qb6 5 Nd2 Nxg5 6 hxg5 Qxb2 7 g6, winning fairly quickly,











Black is best advised to avoid the pawn sacrifice, while in the notes to Illingworth, M - D'Cunha, V we take a look at the important alternatives 4...g6 and 3...d5.


The Trompowsky 2...Ne4 3 Bf4 c5 4 f3 Qa5+ 5 c3 Nf6 6 d5 [A45]

The main line and Timur Gareyev's preference on his new DVD for ChessBase is 3 Bf4 and after 3...c5 4 f3 Qa5+ 5 c3 Nf6 6 d5 there have again been developments:











We take a look at both Bologan's use of 6...e6!? and especially 6...Qb6 7 Bc1 e6 8 e4 exd5 9 exd5 Qd6? which I'd never considered before seeing Moreno Ruiz, J - Martinez Ramirez, E. The greedy queen move isn't good, thankfully.


The Trompowsky 2...c5 3 Nc3 [A45]

2...c5 is another active approach which has received some attention of late. Not all the GMs like to go 2...d5! The aggressive 3 Nc3!? leads after 3...cxd4 4 Qxd4 Nc6 5 Qh4 e6 6 e4 Be7 7 0-0-0 Qa5 8 f4 d6 9 Nf3 to a key position, as in Rahman, Z - Ahmad, A from the Olympiad:











Here 9...0-0?! is certainly brave and after 10 Bd3 h6 11 Bxh6! Black has to be very accurate just to survive in the short term.


The Trompowsky 2...c5 3 d5 Qb6 [A45]

3 d5 Qb6 4 Nc3 Qxb2 5 Bd2 Qb6 6 e4 e5 is another important and critical line. After 7 Rb1 Qd8 8 f4 d6 9 Nf3 Black can either strong-point e5 or try 9...exf4!? 10 Bb5+ Nbd7 11 Bxf4 Be7:











Here Eric devoted his attention to 12 e5!? and that still seems more critical than the course of Zifroni, D - Dvoirys, S.



The Torre Attack 2...e6 and 3...h6 [A46]

Via the Trompowsky move order 1 d4 Nf6 2 Bg5 e6 3 Nd2 h6 4 Bh4 c5 5 e3 b6 6 c3 Bb7 7 Ngf3 Be7 8 Bd3 d6 Ly, M - Collutiis, D reached a reasonable enough line of the Torre for Black. Moulthun now tried 9 Qe2!?, which is a decent semi-waiting move:











Now Black might exchange on d4 after all and that certainly seems better than the 9...Nbd7 10 a3 Qc7 of the game where Black quickly found himself in trouble.


The Torre Attack v King's Indian [A48]

I've rounded up various developments after 1 d4 Nf6 2 Nf3 g6 3 Bg5 Bg7 in Smirin, I - Sutovsky, E. Here 4 c3 c5!? is actually new to ChessPub:











Taking on c5 must be critical, if not overly promising. However, neither for White was 5 Nbd2 cxd4 6 cxd4 d6 7 e3 Bf5 8 Qb3 Nbd7!?, offering a pawn for activity and development in typical Sutovsky fashion.



The London System - Anti-Nimzo [D02]

Finally, it was, unsurprisingly, impossible to fully get away from the London System, on which I see two new books have appeared. Moreover, Magnus has been back to the fore as White, showing that 1 d4 d5 2 Nf3 Nf6 3 Bf4 (the old move order!) 3...e6 4 e3 Bd6 5 Bg3 c5 6 c3 Nc6 7 Nbd2 Bxg3?! 8 hxg3 Qd6 is not something that Black should be doing:











We've previously seen White doing well with 9 Bd3 and Eric's old preference, 9 Bb5, soon gave the world champion a large advantage in Carlsen, M - Ghaem Maghami, E.



More from the Olympiad next month I suspect.

Until then, Richard

>> Previous Update >>