CHESSBOOK REVIEWS

Latest book reviews of 1 July 2020

Wilhelminalaan 33 

7261 BP RUURLO 

The Netherlands.
           John Elburg


                                                      Chess Books
 
The Gloomy Fate and Romantic Chess of Arthur Towle Marriott by Fabrizio Zavatarelli
2019
Moravian Chess
http://www.moravian-chess.cz
159 pages
Price €19,00
ISBN 978-80-7189-016-4


It is great pleasure for me to announce this book from Vlastimil Fiala,out of the new series of forgotten chess players,starting with the interesting but forgotten chess player, Arthur Towle Marriott from Nottingham,and written by the well known Italian chess historian Fabrizio Zavatarelli,who is an expert on the chess world of the 19th century.
Arthur Towle Marriott was a young chess god 1859-1884,who died so early at the young age of 25.
This lovely made book, comes with a biography and 156 annotated games of A. T. Marriott, with comments from contemporary sources of it’s time.
Included are  indexes of players and openings, career record and that makes,a small look this,very enjoyable and above all very complete.
Many games in this are a pleasure to play throw as the following win on the legendary
Blackburne, strange enough there is not one game from Marriott in the book from Tim Harding on Blackburne.
Blackburne,Joseph Henry - Marriott [C52]
Blackburne Nottingham Mechanics Institute tour sim, 1878
1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.e5 d5 5.Bb3 Ne4 6.Qxd4 Bc5 7.Qd3 Nxf2 8.Qg3 Nxh1 9.Qxg7 Qh4+ 10.g3 Qe4+ 11.Ne2 Bg4 12.Qxh8+ Kd7 13.Nbc3 Bb4 14.e6+ Qxe6 15.Kf1 Bxc3 16.Nxc3 Bh3+ 17.Kg1 Qe1#
In the Nottingham Daily Express a Mr. Hamel wrote:6.Qxd4 Mr.Blackburne no doubt relies on his resources in making this venturesome move, and he must well know its unsoundness; but unfortunately he has got hold of the wrong opponent, who is not to be underrated with impunity.
Conclusion: Eye catching and highly recommended!

George Henry Mackenzie
Third US Chess Champion 1870 by Vlastimil Fiala
2019
Moravian Chess
http://www.moravian-chess.cz
167 pages
Price €19,00
ISBN 978-80-7189-018-8


A other interesting new release from Publishing House Moravian Chess is this brand new release from the Great Chess Players Series ,where issue
one starts with no less than the legendary George Henry Mackenzie.
Between 1865 and 1880,Mackenzie played in 13 tournaments and seven matches, winning all of them with exception of one drawn match.
Modern analysis ranks Mackenzie as one of the top three players in the world at his peak in the early 1880s, with an Elo rating from  over 2700.
Maybe Mackenzie was the truly the first third best in the world, anyway this well written work from Vlastimil Fiala himself is not an biography but Fiala
comes with something new,the author goes back in time to the year 1870 and follows our chess hero as a shadow.
The author provides detailed descriptions of the course of all chess tournaments that Mackenzie participated and captures all kind of interesting information, but above
we can feel the atmosphere of his unique played games and matches of that time.
Included are own analyses but also other American and Britisch chess columnists can be found between the pages of this book.
This book does not only make use of all chess magazines of that time,it also draws on extensive research of American and English chess  columns.
The author is confident that he has not missed any major chess events that Mackenzie was involved in.
So the reader will find close to 60 interesting games,ofthen with interesting comments!
Conclusion: Highly recommended!

The Meeting of the British Chess Association at Cambridge 1860
2019
Moravian Chess
http://www.moravian-chess.cz
80 pages
Price €9,00
ISBN 978-80-7189-017-1


Vlastimil Fiala offers for a small 9 euro a interesting and hard to find reprint tournament book from the meeting of the British Chess Association that was hold at
Cambridge 1860, which was won by Ignaz von Kolisch, ahead of the strong Charles Stanley.
The book contains 29 games in total, of which 17 are all the games of the tournament, 6 games are from the exhibition match Staunton - Worrall and the rest are various exhibition games.Where some games are annotated from contemporary sources as from Staunton, and Loewenthal. The book includes the tournament history, rules, official report, 25 problems from the problem tournament - all diagrammed with solutions etc. Indexes of players and openings.
Conclusion: Highly interesting!  And a must for lovers of historical chess books!
                                                                                                           Chess DVD's    

Komodo Chess 14
2020
http://www.chessbase.com
E-Mail info@chessbase.com
Price Euro 99.90
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS: Minimum: Dual Core, 2 GB RAM, Windows 7 64bit oder 8.1 64bit, DirectX11, graphics card with 256 MB RAM, DVD-ROM-drive, Windows Media Player 9 and internet access.
Recommended: PC Intel i5 or AMD Ryzen 3 (Quadcore), 8 GB RAM, Windows 10 with 64-Bit (current version), Windows Media Player 11, (DVD-ROM drive) and internet access.
For ChessBase ACCOUNT: Internet access and up-to-date browser, e.g. Chrome, Safari. Runs on Windows, OS X, iOS, Android and Linux.


The two elements of artificial intelligence and human understanding have been for years  the success key of the Komodo chess engines.
This new Komodo 14 comes with new AlphoZero technology,so the two well known  programmers, GM Larry Kaufman and Mark Lefler had to redevelop
and rewrite their engine from the ground up.
There new approach with “MCTS” (“Monte Carlo Tree Search”) is in one word smashing, specially with the new functions for the configuration of the engine.
The new Komodo 14 is only 40 Elo points stronger than its predecessor. But the engine can  be varied, in various playing styles (aggressive, defensive, active, positional, endgame, beginner and human which can even be all combined in playing style.
Last year Komodo won the world championship title on two occasions and can call itself “2019 World Computer Chess Champion” and “2019 World Chess Software Champion”. And the current Komodo 14 has been clearly improved!
Komodo 14  is delivered with two versions of the engine: the playing strength of the standard version is somewhat stronger than the “MCTS” version, so long as the engine only has to calculate one variation at a time. If the number of variations is increased, however, the very much improved “MCTS” version is your first choice!
Includes current Fritz 17 program interface and six months ChessBase Premium Account.
Conclusion: Smashing!

The Open Sicilian Bundle
by  Roeland Pruijsses &Nico Zwirs
http://www.chessbase.com
E-Mail info@chessbase.com
Price Euro 99.90
Windows 7 or higher
Minimum: Dual Core, 2 GB RAM, DirectX11, graphics card with 256 MB RAM, DVD-ROM drive, Windows Media Player 9, ChessBase 14/Fritz 16 or included Reader and internet access for program activation. Recommended: PC Intel i5 (Quadcore), 4 GB RAM, Windows 10, DirectX11, graphics card with 512 MB RAM or more, 100% DirectX10-compatible sound card, Windows Media Player 11, DVD-ROM drive and internet access for program activation.
MacOSX  only available as download! Minimum: MacOS "Yosemite" 10.10

The two Dutch chess professionals GM Roeland Pruijsses and IM Nico Zwirs provide the user with a heavy loaded package, that is good for  over 37 hours highly video entertainment.
And that is included the tactics tool box DVD which is completley divided on tactics and sacrifices, and there is truly no better way to tackle your tactically openings skills than with these two experienced chess cracks.
But the repertoire opening lines are based on three separate  DVD’s and brought back for this super deal in one, and holds in big lines:
Vol.1: 2…d6 Dragon, Dragodorf, Najdorf, Scheveningen, 5th move alternatives (e5, Bd7), Classical Sicilian
Vol.2: 2…Nc6 Accelerated Dragon, Sveshnikov, Kalashnikov, Grivas 4…Qb6, Löwenthal, Four Knights
Vol.3: 2…e6 and others Taimanov, Paulsen/Kan, Hybrid System, Pin-Variation, Nimzowitsch 2…Nf6, O‘ Kelly 2…a6, Hyper-Accelerated Dragon 2…g6 and more.
All packed in nine heavy loaded installation files.
A fine example of play is: 27 Najdorf 6. Be3 e6 - Mainline 10... Bb7 [B80]
[Roeland Pruijssers/Nico Zwirs]
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be3 e6 7.Qf3 A rare move which has been played by Adams with succes. A draw in 2002 with Kasparov and victories over Van Wely and Sasikiran give the impression that it's a dangarous line for black 7...Nbd7 The best move because it stops g4 because of ... Ne5 with a double attack 8.0-0-0 Qc7 9.Qg3 The idea is to stop black from developing his dark-squared bishop and sometimes it supports some sacrifice on b5, because it also attacks d6 9...b5 10.a3 Bb7 11.f3 Setting up for sharp play [11.Bd3 The bishop always goes to this square so 11.Bd3 is more flexible than 11.f3 because white keeps the option open for an immediate f4 11...h5 a) 11...g6 Is very possible, but not with the intension to play Bg7 12.f3 (12.Kb1 Bg7 13.Ndxb5 (13.Bxb5) 13...axb5 14.Nxb5 Qb8) 12...Be7 (12...Bg7? 13.Ndxb5!+-) 13.Kb1 Rc8 (13...0-0 Is way to dangarous with g6 14.h4,) 14.h4 Now we're playing a normal line with the inclusion of g6 which favours white;
b) 11...Rc8 12.Kb1 Qb8 b1) 12...Ne5 13.Rhe1 Nxd3 14.cxd3 g6 (14...b4) 15.Rc1; b2) 12...d5 13.exd5 Nxd5 14.Nxd5 Bxd5; 13.Nde2 h5 14.f3 (14.Bg5 Be7) 14...g6 15.Rhe1 Bg7;
c) 11...Ne5 12.Kb1! Now white is able to take back on d3 with the pawn 12...Rc8 13.Rhe1; 12.f3 a) 12.Rhe1 h4 13.Qh3 Nc5; b) 12.Kb1 Rc8 (12...h4 13.Qh3 Nc5 14.Rhe1 e5 15.Nf5 Nxd3 16.cxd3 g6 17.Nxh4 Be7) 13.Rhe1 Qb8 (13...g6) 14.Bd2 Qa8 15.Nxe6 fxe6 16.f4; 12...Rc8 13.Kb1 Be7 14.Rhe1 0-0 15.Bh6] 11...Rc8 [11...Ne5 Looks good, but in reality it's not so great. Black loses a bit of his flexibility 12.Kb1 Rc8 13.Be2 The last piece to develop and sometimes white is able to play f4 because the g4 square have some extra support (13.Qe1 d5 (13...Be7 14.g4 0-0 15.g5 Nfd7 16.h4 Nb6 17.h5 Nec4 18.Bxc4 Nxc4 19.Rd3) 14.Bf4) 13...Qb8 (13...Nc4 14.Bxc4 bxc4 (14...Qxc4 15.Nde2) ) 14.Bd2! Stopping the exchange sacrifice on c3 (14.Qe1) 14...g6 (14...Nfd7 15.Rhe1 Nb6 16.f4 Nec4 17.Bc1±) 15.Qh3! Be7 (15...Bg7 16.Nxe6 fxe6 17.Qxe6+ Kf8 18.Bg5 Ng8 19.f4 Nf7 20.e5 Re8 21.Qb3 Ngh6 (21...dxe5 22.Rd7) 22.Nd5 Bxd5 23.Rxd5± With a crushing attack) 16.g4 (16.Bh6 Rxc3 17.bxc3) 16...Nc4 17.Bxc4 Rxc4 18.Nb3 (18.Bh6 Rxc3 19.bxc3) 18...Qc7 (18...0-0) 19.Na2!;
11...h5 12.Bd3 (12.Bxb5 axb5 13.Ndxb5 Qb8 14.Nxd6+ Bxd6 15.Qxd6 Qxd6 16.Rxd6 Ke7 (16...Ne5) ) 12...Rc8 13.Rhe1] 12.Bxb5!? There we go [12.Bd3 Qb8 13.Kb1] 12...axb5 13.Ndxb5 Here black has two ways to go into the endgame 13...Qb8 The one with the immediate exchange of queens [13...Qa5 The one with the exchange of queens a little bit later 14.Nxd6+ Bxd6 15.Qxd6 Rc6 (15...Qc7 16.Qxc7 Rxc7 17.Nb5 Rc6 18.Nd6+) 16.Qb4 Qxb4 17.axb4 Ke7 (17...0-0 18.b5 Rc4) 18.b5 Rc4 (18...Rc7 19.Nb1! Same principle as in the mainline, knight goes to a3 and takes over the control of the c4 square 19...Ra8 20.Na3 Ne5 21.Bf4 Rc5 22.Rd4 Nh5 23.Bxe5 The only exception where white give up the bishop 23...Rxe5 24.Rhd1 Nf6 25.c4±) 19.Nb1!! Such a silly looking move, but so strong! The knight goes to a3 to defend the b5 pawn and support the c-pawn on the squares c2 and c4. (19.b3 Rxc3; 19.Rd3 Ne5) 19...Rhc8 (19...Ra8 20.Na3 Rcc8 21.Kb1 Ne5 22.Rd4 Controlling c4 22...Nfd7 23.Rhd1 Nb6 24.Bd2± And when black successfully defends the c4 break, white starts with another attack. Bd2!) 20.Na3 Ra4 21.Rd4 Rxd4 22.Bxd4 Now white is ready for c4 22...Nh5 23.Rd1! Nf4 24.Rd2² But first stop black's counter play with the Rd1-d2 manoeuvre] 14.Nxd6+ Bxd6 15.Qxd6 Qxd6 16.Rxd6 This is a good moment to pause. White has three pawns for the piece and those pawns are connected passed pawns. Furthermore there are opposite coloured bishops which means that the player with the initiative has an extra advantage. This all makes the position very unbalanced and black has some options to fight for the initiative. The last thing I noticed is that white needs to keep his bishop. The trade of one rook or a pair of knights doesn't matter, but the bishop is important. 16...Ne5!N The most precise move by black [16...Ke7 17.Rhd1 h6 And after this strange looking move Vocaturo found a nice play to explore the weakness of the dark squares a) 17...Rhd8 18.Nb5 The standard move. The idea is to play Na7, block the a-file and start pushing pawns 18...Ne8 (18...Ne5 19.Rxd8 Rxd8 20.Bc5+ Ke8 21.Nc7#) 19.R6d2 Ba6 (19...h6 If black does nothing white is going for Na7 and start pushing pawns 20.Na7 Ra8 21.a4 Nc7 22.b4 g5 23.b5) 20.Na7 Rc7 21.b4± Since the black pieces are lacking coordination and white has his pieces on the best squares, white is much better here; b) 17...Bc6! The best move. It stops the whole Nb5 idea 18.b4! Bd5 Isn't working 19.Nb5! Rb8 20.exd5 Rxb5 21.dxe6 fxe6 22.c4² And the pawn are rolling again. The game would be a long strugle for black although he has a lot of resources to block the pawns; c) 17...Ne5 18.Rb6! The only move (18.Nb5? The standard plan, but quite bad here 18...Nc4³) 18...Ba8 19.Ra6 Going away from the fork 19...Rhd8 20.Rxd8 Rxd8 (20...Kxd8 21.Nb5± And white starts the standard knight manoeuvre) 21.Bc5+ Kd7 22.Ra7+ Kc6 23.b4 And again the white pieces are placed excellent; 18.Nb5! g5 Black didn't saw the threat 19.Bd2! A killer and after Bb4 black is in big trouble. 19...Rc6 20.Bb4 Rxd6 21.Nxd6 Bc6+- Vocaturo won a nice game in Vocaturo-Montoliu Cervero, Benasque 2015;
16...0-0 17.Nb5! Again 17...Ne5 18.b3 Stopping Nc4 and it won't take that long before white's pawns start to roll 18...Bc6 (18...Rfd8? 19.Rhd1 And black isn't even able to take 19...Rxd6 20.Nxd6 Rb8 21.Nxb7 Rxb7 22.Rd8+ Ne8 23.Rxe8#; 18...Ne8 19.Rb6 Ba8 20.Rd1; 18...Nxe4 A desperado. But since it's a desperado white can gain an advantage 19.fxe4 Bxe4 20.Rd2+-) 19.Na7 Rc7 20.Rhd1;
16...Bc6 17.Rhd1 Ke7 (17...0-0 18.a4 Ne5 19.b3±) 18.b4 Transposes to 16... Ke7 17.Rhd1 Bc6] 17.Nb5 Nc4 18.Rd3 0-0 [18...Nxe3? 19.Nd6+] 19.Bf4 Ba6 20.Nd6 Nxd6 21.Rxd6 Bc4 22.Kb1 [22.b3?? Bxb3] 22...Ne8! The only way to fight back [22...Rfd8 23.b3 Rxd6 24.Bxd6 Ba6 25.c4²] 23.Rd2 f5 24.exf5 exf5 [24...Rxf5 25.Bg3 Rd5 26.Rhd1 Rcd8 (26...Ra8 27.b3 Be2! 28.Rxd5 exd5 29.Re1 Ba6 30.a4= Although the material balance is unclear, we believe that white is on the better side of the equil sign) 27.Rxd5 Rxd5 28.Kc1²] 25.a4 Nc7 26.b3 Bf7 27.Rhd1² The position is still unbalanced, but if anyone is better it should be white Line
Conclusion:Very important grandmaster reference material!   

Fundamentals of Chess Tactics by  Qiyu Zhou
2020
http://www.chessbase.com
E-Mail info@chessbase.com
Price Euro 29.90
Windows 7 or higher
Minimum: Dual Core, 2 GB RAM, DirectX11, graphics card with 256 MB RAM, DVD-ROM drive, Windows Media Player 9, ChessBase 14/Fritz 16 or included Reader and internet access for program activation. Recommended: PC Intel i5 (Quadcore), 4 GB RAM, Windows 10, DirectX11, graphics card with 512 MB RAM or more, 100% DirectX10-compatible sound card, Windows Media Player 11, DVD-ROM drive and internet access for program activation.
MacOSX  only available as download! Minimum: MacOS "Yosemite" 10.10

This well made over seven hours video coverage, interactive DVD from the phenomenal lady Grandmaster Qiyu Zhou,which is created to improve your tactical skills, simple  by doing chess exercises,
Just take up this DVD and start to work! The user will see after a while his or her skills will improve in an impressive way.
Pleasant to mention are the problemsolving abilities that Qiyu Zhou has ceated here,I found over +15 chapters where each of them is good for a instructive turn.
Qiyu Zhou does not only cover  popular themes like pins, discovered attacks, and but also gives insights into more complicated themes like the Greek Gift, exchange sacrifice and more.
A tip from her is to pause the video,and try to solve the position for yourself. At the end of the DVD, I have prepared numerous exercises meant for you to solve without knowing the theme. Included is even an extra database with even more examples are to go for.
Conclusion: A must for all beginners in chess!     


Fundamentals of Chess Openings by  Qiyu Zhou
2020
http://www.chessbase.com
E-Mail info@chessbase.com
Price Euro 29.90
Windows 7 or higher
Minimum: Dual Core, 2 GB RAM, DirectX11, graphics card with 256 MB RAM, DVD-ROM drive, Windows Media Player 9, ChessBase 14/Fritz 16 or included Reader and internet access for program activation. Recommended: PC Intel i5 (Quadcore), 4 GB RAM, Windows 10, DirectX11, graphics card with 512 MB RAM or more, 100% DirectX10-compatible sound card, Windows Media Player 11, DVD-ROM drive and internet access for program activation.
MacOSX  only available as download! Minimum: MacOS "Yosemite" 10.10

Qiyu Zhou is a strong Canadian chess player who holds the titles of FIDE Master (FM) and Woman Grandmaster (WGM),on this ChessBase Opening’s DVD she explains as no other the first steps of getting involved into the world of chess openings,as she explains in an  impressive nearly six hour video coverage,all with the moves 1. e4 and 1.d4.
Included are important  opening’s strategies as open lines, controlling the centre, developing towards the centre and more!
There is even an extra chapter with repertoire features.
Conclusion: There is no better way to get started!
 
ChessBase Magazine issue 195 Extra
June  2020
ChessBase
 http://www.chessbase.com
E-Mail info@chessbase.com
ISSN 1432-8992
Euro 12,99
System requirements:
Minimum: Pentium III 1 GHz, 1 GB RAM, Windows Vista, XP (Service Pack 3), DirectX9 graphic card with 256 MB RAM, DVD-ROM drive, Windows Media Player 9, ChessBase 12/Fritz 13 or included Reader and internet connection for program activation. Recommended: PC Intel Core i7, 2.8 GHz, 4 GB RAM, Windows 8.1 or Windows 10, DirectX10 graphic card (or compatible) with 512 MB RAM or better, 10


The amazing Anna Muzychuk presents here highlight of the Gibraltar Open 2020 novelty in the feared Sicilian Taimanov Variation.
Adrian Mikhalchishin goes for the line with 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 c5 4.Nf3 cxd4 5.Nxd4 d5 6.Bg2 e5 7.Nf3 d4 8.0-0 Nc6 9.e3 Be7 10.exd4 exd4 and shows us interesting analyses from the game Ponkratov-Navara from the EM 2018 in Batumi.
And Georgios Souleidis shows you a brilliant endgame that suddenly ended in a mate attack
The game file is good for 54968 entries plus the extra 24 Lucky bag games with heavy included analyses, are a must have for every ambitious chess lover.
A fine example of play is: Caruana,Fabiano (2822) - Firouzja,Alireza (2723) [E71]
Tata Steel-A 82nd Wijk aan Zee (10), 22.01.2020
[Stohl,Igor]
1.d4 Pf6 2.c4 g6 3.Pc3 Lg7 4.e4 d6 5.h3 0-0 6.Le3 [6.Pf3 ;
After 6.Lg5 c6 7.Pf3 d5!? 8.cxd5 (8.exd5 cxd5 9.Lxf6 exf6 10.Pxd5 f5©) 8...cxd5 9.Lxf6 exf6 10.exd5 b6 11.Le2 Pa6 12.0-0 Pc7 13.Db3 Lb7 14.Lc4 Tb8 15.a4 a6 16.Tfe1 b5 17.axb5 axb5 18.Ld3 b4 19.Pe4 f5 20.Ped2 Pxd5 21.Lc4 Pb6 22.Dxb4 Pxc4 23.Dxc4 Ld5 24.Dc3 Db6© Caruana,F (2807)-Nakamura,H (2792) Saint Louis 2017] 6...Pc6 [6...e5 7.d5 Pa6 (7...a5 8.g4 Pa6 9.Pge2 Pd7 10.Dd2 (10.Pg3 Pdc5 (10...Lf6 ; 10...Dh4!? ) 11.h4!?) 10...Pdc5 11.Pg3 c6 12.Le2 cxd5 13.cxd5 (13.exd5!? f5 14.gxf5 Lxf5 15.Pxf5 gxf5 16.0-0-0 Kh8 17.Thg1 f4 18.Lxc5 Pxc5 19.Dc2 e4 20.Pxe4 Pxe4 21.Dxe4 Df6 22.Td2 f3 23.Ld3 Dh6© Grandelius,N (2691)-McShane,L (2688) Eskilstuna 2019) 13...a4 14.h4 Ld7 15.h5 Tc8 16.Kf1 a3 17.b3 Da5 18.Tc1 f6 19.Kg2 Pb4 20.hxg6 hxg6 21.Lh6 Tf7 22.Th2 Lxh6 (22...Te8±) 23.Dxh6 Tg7 24.Tch1 Tf8 Caruana,F (2832)-Nakamura,H (2746) London blitz 2018 25.g5! î?� 25...fxg5 26.Pf5!! Lxf5 (26...gxf5 27.Dxd6+- (27.Lh5!+-) ) 27.exf5 Pbd3 28.f6 Txf6 29.Dh8+ Kf7 30.Th7 Txf2+ 31.Kg1+-) 8.g4 (8.Pf3 Ph5 9.a3 (9.Ph2 De8 10.Le2 Pf4 (10...f5 ) ) 9...f5 10.b4 Pb8 11.Db3 (11.c5!?) 11...Pd7 12.c5 De7 13.Td1 Pdf6 14.Lg5 b6 15.Pd2 h6 16.Lxf6 Lxf6 17.Lc4 Kh7 18.cxd6 cxd6 19.0-0 Ld7 20.La6 Tf7 21.Tfe1 Tg8 22.Tc1 Lg5 23.Dd1 Pf6" /î?®, Houdini 6.03 (3820)-Stockfish 19092522 (3883) Internet 2019) 8...Pc5 9.f3 c6 a) 9...Pe8 10.Dd2 f5 11.exf5 gxf5 12.0-0-0² î?'; b) 9...h5 10.Dd2 (10.g5 Ph7!? (10...Pfd7 11.b4 Pa6 12.a3 Pab8 13.h4 a5 14.Tb1 Pa6 15.Kf2 De8 16.Kg2 axb4 17.axb4 De7 18.Dd2 c5 19.dxc6 bxc6 20.b5 cxb5 21.cxb5 Pac5 22.Pd5± Szczepanski,Z (2549)-Neagu,L (2560) email 2013) 11.h4 f6 12.Dd2 fxg5 13.hxg5 Tf4!?© ) 10...Ph7 11.0-0-0 h4 12.Ld3 Pxd3+ 13.Dxd3 f5 14.Th2 Kh8 15.Tg2 Ld7 16.exf5 gxf5 17.g5 f4 18.Lf2 De8 19.Pe4 Lf5 20.Lxh4 Dh5 21.Lf2 Lxe4 22.fxe4 Pxg5 23.Tg4 Ph7 24.Pf3 Lf6 25.c5f Caruana,F (2811)-Jones,G (2640) Wijk aan Zee 2018; 10.Dd2 cxd5 11.cxd5 Ld7 12.Pge2 h5 13.Pc1 (13.Tg1!?) 13...Tc8 14.Pb3 Pxb3 15.axb3 a6 16.Ld3 Ph7 17.0-0-0 h4 18.Kb1 Lf6 19.f4 exf4 20.Lxf4 Te8 21.Thf1 Le5= /î?®, Grandelius,N (2691)-McShane,L (2688) Eskilstuna 2019;
6...c5 7.d5 a) 1a) 7.dxc5 Da5 8.Ld3 dxc5 9.e5 Pfd7 10.f4 Td8 (10...f6!?) 11.Pf3 (11.De2 Pc6 12.Pf3 Pd4 13.Pxd4 Pxe5! 14.fxe5 cxd4 15.Ld2 dxc3 ½, Miroshnichenko,E (2642)-Markos,J (2565) Plovdiv 2008 16.Lxc3 Db6 17.0-0-0 Le6³) ¹11...Pxe5 (11...Pc6 12.Db1!? (12.0-0 Pb4") 12...Pb6 13.0-0 Pb4 14.Le2 Lf5 15.Pe4 Da4 Lalic,B (2418)-Bates,R (2358) Hastings 2019 16.b3 Dc6 17.Pfg5 h6 18.g4±) 12.Pxe5 Lxe5 13.fxe5 Lf5 14.0-0 Txd3! (14...Lxd3 15.e6! f5 16.Pd5 Lxf1 17.Pxe7+! Kf8 18.Df3± î?") 15.De2 Txc3 16.bxc3 Pc6!÷ (16...Le6 17.Tab1 Dc7 18.Tf4 Pd7 19.Df3 Tb8 20.Th4 Dxe5 Romero Holmes,A (2514)-Guseinov,G (2552) Mallorca 2004 21.Te4! Dxc3 22.Lf4 Dxf3 23.gxf3²) 17.Txf5 gxf5 18.Tf1 Dxc3 19.Txf5 Pxe5³;
b) 7.Pf3 Da5 (7...cxd4 8.Pxd4 Pc6 9.Le2 Pxd4 10.Lxd4 Ld7 11.0-0 a5 12.Dc2 Lc6 13.Tad1 Pd7 14.Lxg7 Kxg7 15.Lg4!f White either swaps his î?§ on d7, or gets in a central break with c5, or e5, retaining an nagging initiative. His score in this position is well over 75% from over 100 games. 15...Pe5 16.c5 Pxg4 17.hxg4 Dc8 18.cxd6 Dxg4 19.dxe7 Tfe8 20.Pd5 Lxd5 21.Dc3+ Kg8 22.exd5 Txe7 23.d6± Cheparinov,I (2711)-Amin,B (2709) Zagreb 2018) 8.Ld3 (8.Pd2 cxd4 9.Pb3 Dxc3+!? 10.bxc3 dxe3© 11.f3 Ph5 12.Dc1 Lh6 13.g4 Pf4 14.Kd1 Pe6 15.Kc2 Pc6 16.h4 Lf4 17.Dd1 Pe5 18.Pc1 Ld7 19.a4 Tac8 20.Pe2 Lh6 21.g5 Lg7 22.Lh3 Pxf3 23.Dd3 Pe5 24.Dxe3 Pxc4µ Firouzja,A (2682)-Karthikeyan,M (2593) Xingtai 2019) 8...Pfd7 9.0-0 Pc6 10.Le2 cxd4 11.Pxd4 Pxd4 12.Lxd4 Lxd4 13.Dxd4 Pe5 14.Tad1 Le6 15.b3 a6 16.De3 (16.f4!? Pc6 17.Dd2²) 16...b5 17.f4 b4 18.Pd5 (18.Pa4? Pxc4µ Pechac,J (2473)-Mazur,S (2426) Ruzomberok 2019) 18...Pc6 19.Lf3² /î?S; 7...e6 8.Ld3 exd5 (8...Pa6 9.Pf3 Te8 10.0-0 Pc7 11.a4 Pa6 12.Pd2 (¹12.Tc1 Pb4 13.Lb1² ) 12...Pb4 13.Le2 b6 14.Db3 a6 15.Tae1 Ta7 16.Dd1 Tae7 17.Db1 Dc7 18.Lf4 e5 19.Le3 Pd7 20.Lg4 Tf8 21.Kh1 Tee8 22.Le2 Dd8 23.Pf3 Kh8 24.Lg5 f6 25.Lh4 Lh6" Adhiban,B (2671)-Ponomariov,R (2686) Linares 2018) 9.exd5 (9.cxd5 b5!? 10.Pxb5 Te8 î?� 11.Pc3 Pxe4 12.Pxe4 f5") 9...Pa6 (9...Te8 10.Pf3! Lh6 11.0-0 ) 10.Pf3 Pb4 (10...Lf5 11.Lxf5 gxf5 12.0-0 Pe4 13.Pxe4 fxe4 14.Pg5 De7 15.Dg4! f5 16.Dh5 Lxb2 17.Tab1 Le5 18.Pe6 Tf7 19.f4 Lh8 20.g4, Postny,E (2672)-Summerscale,A (2418) London 2015) 11.Le2 (<11.Lb1 b5! 12.a3 (12.Pxb5 La6 î?� 13.a4 Pfxd5!µ) 12...Da5 13.0-0 bxc4³) 11...Lf5 12.Tc1 Pe4 (12...Da5 13.Dd2 Pe4 14.Pxe4 Lxe4 15.a3 Lxb2 16.axb4 Dxb4 17.Dxb4 cxb4 18.Td1 Lc2 19.Td2 Lc3 20.Ld4 Lxd2+ 21.Kxd2f ; 12...Te8 13.a3 Pa6²) 13.g4 Pxc3 14.bxc3 Pxa2 15.gxf5 Pxc1 16.Dxc1 Df6 17.fxg6 Dxc3+ 18.Dxc3 Lxc3+ 19.Kd1 hxg6 20.Kc2 Lg7 21.Tb1 b6 22.h4 Tfe8 23.Ld3 Kf8 24.h5 gxh5 (24...a5 25.h6 Lf6 26.Kb3 a4+ 27.Ka3± Amin,B (2704)-Fedorov,A (2566) Brest 2019) 25.Ph4 Txe3 26.fxe3 Le5² Cuenca Jimenez,J (2513)-Amin,B (2709) Sweden 2019;
6...c6 7.Pf3 d5 8.e5 Pe4 9.Db3!?f î?£] 7.d5 [7.Pf3 e5 8.d5 Pd4! 9.Pxd4 exd4 10.Lxd4 Pxe4 11.Pxe4 (11.Lxg7 Te8) 11...Dh4 12.g4 Te8 13.Lg2 Lf5 14.0-0 Lxe4 15.Lxg7 Lxg2 16.Kxg2 Kxg7 17.Dd4+ Df6 18.Dxf6+ Kxf6 19.Tfe1 ½, Lutz,C (2580)-Finkel,A (2465) Leeuwarden 1994] 7...Pe5 [7...Pb4 8.a3 (8.Pf3 c6 (¹8...e6!?) 9.Le2 Pd7 10.0-0 Dc7 11.Ld4 Pe5 12.Pxe5 Lxe5 13.Lxe5 dxe5 14.a3 Pa6 15.b4 c5 16.Tb1 Dd8 17.Dd2 Ld7 18.De3 Tc8 19.b5 Pc7 20.f4 exf4 21.Dxf4 Pe8 22.e5± Yankelevich,L (2484)-Corvi,M (2253) Cattolica 2019) 8...Pa6 9.Ld3 e6 (9...Pd7 10.Pf3 Pac5 11.Lc2 Pb6 12.De2 Lxc3+ 13.bxc3 Pba4 14.Lh6 Te8 15.e5 e6 16.Lg5 Dd7 17.Lf6 exd5 18.Dd2 De6 19.0-0 dxe5 20.Lxe5 f6 21.cxd5 Df7 22.Ld4 Dxd5 23.c4 Df7 24.Tfe1© î?', Parligras,M (2616)-Zelbel,P (2458) Germany 2018) 10.Pge2 Pc5 (10...Te8 11.b4!?² ) 11.Lc2 exd5 12.cxd5 Te8 13.f3 Ph5 14.g4 Pf6 15.Pd4 a5 16.Dd2 Ld7 17.0-0-0 (17.0-0!?²) 17...Tb8 18.h4 b5 19.b4 axb4 20.axb4 Pa6 Jones,G (2660)-Maze,S (2614) Porticcio 2017 21.Pa2!f ;
7...Pb8 8.Pf3 c6 9.Ld3 e6 10.dxe6 Lxe6 11.0-0 Pbd7 12.Pg5 Te8 13.Dd2 De7 14.Tfe1 Pe5 15.b3 a6 16.Lc2 Lc8 17.f4 Ped7 18.Tad1 h6 19.Pf3 Ph7 20.Pe2± î?£, Arnaudov,P (2441)-Petenyi,T (2449) Antalya 2017] 8.f4 [8.Dd2 e6 9.f4 Ped7 10.dxe6 fxe6 11.g4 b5 12.cxb5 Lb7!? (<12...a6 13.Pf3 axb5 14.Lxb5 Lb7 15.Dc2 d5 16.e5 d4 17.Pxd4! Lxh1 18.Pxe6 De7 19.Lc4 Kh8 20.0-0-0 Lb7 21.Pxg7 Pb6 22.Lb3+- Repka,C (2519)-Manik,M (2400) Banska Stiavnica 2018) 13.Lg2 (13.Ld3 d5) 13...a6 14.bxa6 Txa6² /î??;
8.Le2 e6 9.Pf3 Pxf3+ 10.Lxf3 Pd7"] 8...Ped7 9.g4 [9.Ld3 e5 10.dxe6 (10.f5 gxf5 11.exf5 e4!) 10...fxe6 11.Pge2 b6÷ 12.0-0 De7 13.Dd2 Lb7 14.Lc2 Pc5 15.Pg3 a5 16.Tae1 Pfd7 17.b3 Dh4 18.Pge2 Pf6 19.Lf2 Dh6" Studer,N (2546)-Cheparinov,I (2686) Caleta 2020] 9...c6! [9...e5?! 10.f5 Pc5 11.Dc2 gxf5?! 12.exf5 h6 13.0-0-0± Rychlik,H (2032)-Turlej,L (2146) Polanica Zdroj 2006;
9...e6 10.dxe6 fxe6 11.Lg2f ] 10.Pf3 cxd5 11.cxd5 [11.exd5 Pc5 (11...Te8!? ) ] 11...b6!?N [11...Pc5? 12.Lxc5 dxc5 13.e5 Pd7 14.Dc2 Da5 15.Pd2 Pb6 16.a3 Pd7 17.0-0-0 a6 18.Lg2 Tb8 19.d6 e6 20.h4 b5 21.h5 b4 22.Pc4 Dd8 23.hxg6! bxc3 24.gxf7+ Txf7 (24...Kxf7 25.Dxc3+- î?") 25.Dxh7+ Kf8 26.Dh8+ Lxh8 27.Txh8+ Kg7 28.Txd8 Txf4 29.b3 Txb3 30.Kc2 Tb8 31.Kxc3+- Jones,G (2662)-Pavlidis,A (2546) Heraklion 2017] 12.Pd4 Pc5 13.Df3 [13.Lg2 La6" ;
13.Dc2 Pcxe4 (13...e6!?" ; Similar is 13...Lb7 14.Lg2 e6 15.0-0 exd5 16.exd5 Te8 17.Lf2 Dd7 18.Tfe1 Pa6 19.Pc6 Pc7 20.Tad1 Txe1+ 21.Txe1 Te8 22.Txe8+ Dxe8 23.b4 a6 24.a4 b5 25.axb5 axb5 26.Dd3 Pcxd5!= Rodshtein,M (2628)-Rechlis,G (2498) Israel 2020) 14.Pxe4 (14.g5 Pxc3 15.gxf6 Pxd5 16.fxg7 Te8!f) 14...Pxd5² /î??;
An engine suggestion is 13.Pc6!? De8 14.Lg2 La6 15.Lxc5 bxc5 16.Dd2² ] 13...Lb7 [13...Pcxe4? 14.g5 Pxc3 15.gxf6 Lxf6 16.bxc3±;
13...e6!? 14.g5 Ph5÷ 15.0-0-0 exd5 16.exd5 (16.Pxd5 Lb7) 16...f6" ] 14.g5T [14.0-0-0?! e6f ] 14...Pfxe4 [The engine favours the more mundane 14...Ph5!? 15.f5 Le5÷ (15...Tc8 ) ] 15.Pxe4 Lxd5 16.Pf6+ exf6 17.Dxd5 Te8 18.Pc2 [18.Df3!? fxg5 (18...De7 19.Pc2 fxg5 20.0-0-0 Df6 21.Ld4 Dxf4+ 22.Dxf4 gxf4 23.Lb5!?² ) 19.0-0-0 gxf4 20.Dxf4 Te4 21.Df3÷ ] 18...fxg5 19.0-0-0 gxf4 20.Ld4 [White can't afford 20.Lxf4? Df6 21.Dd4 Df5 22.Dxd6 (22.Dd2 Pa4-+ î?") 22...Pe4-+] 20...Lxd4 21.Dxd4 Pe6 [21...Dh4!?"] 22.Dd2! [22.Dxd6 Df6 ] 22...Df6 23.Kb1 Tac8 24.Lb5 Ted8 25.Pb4 d5! 26.Thf1 [26.Pxd5? Df5+ 27.Ka1 Txd5! 28.Dxd5 Tc1+-+;
26.h4!?] 26...Tc5 27.a4 d4 28.Pd3 Tf5 29.Tf3 g5?! [¹29...h5! 30.Lc4 (30.Tg1? Pg5 î?� 31.Txf4 Pf3µ; 30.Tdf1!? g5 31.Lc4÷ might be better) 30...Tc8"] 30.Tg1 Kf8? [30...h5!? 31.Lc4 (31.Lc6!? ) ] 31.h4! h6 32.hxg5 hxg5 33.Th3+- f3 34.Lc4 [34.Dh2,;
34.Tgh1 î?� 34...f2 35.Pxf2! Txf2 36.Th8+ Ke7 37.Db4+ Pc5 38.Te1+ Kd6 39.Txd8+ Dxd8 40.Dxd4++-] 34...Ke7 35.Lxe6 [35.Te1 ;
35.Dh2 ] 35...Kxe6 36.Dh2! f2 [36...Tg8 37.Tc1+-] 37.Tf1 Kd7 38.Th6 De7 39.Txf2 Txf2 40.Dxf2 Kc8 41.a5! bxa5 [41...Td6 42.Dc2+ Kb7 (42...Kb8 43.Th8+ Td8 44.Pe5!+-) 43.a6+ Kxa6 44.Dc8+ Ka5 45.Df5+ Ka6 46.Pb4+ Kb7 47.Df3++-] 42.Dc2+ Kb8 43.Pc5 Td6 [43...f6 44.Th7+-] 44.Th8+ [44.Db3+ Tb6 45.Dg3++- ] 44...Td8 45.Db3+ Kc7 46.Db7+ Kd6 47.Th6+ f6 48.Pe4+ [48.Pe4+ Ke6 49.Pxg5+ ] 1-0
Conclusion: Must have material!