[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Grunfeld omission"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "*"]
[ECO "D97"]
[Annotator "Ntirlis,Nikos"]
[PlyCount "44"]

{"Ray" at the blog mentioned that in Schandorff's Indian Defences book there
have been two omissions in two popular openings. Both of the moves not
mentioned may be rather rare but they were played by 2700+. So show them now
some more respect...} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. Qb3 dxc4 6.
Qxc4 O-O 7. e4 Be6 $5 {this is not mentioned by Schandorff} 8. d5 $1 {this is
what Black wants (obviously!) but it seems that there is no better way for
gaining an edge} (8. Qb5 Bd7 9. Qc5 (9. Qb3 {is met by} c5 $1 {with
counterplay for Black}) 9... b6 10. Qg5 $6 (10. Qc4 c5 11. dxc5 (11. d5 {is
met by} e6 $1) 11... Be6 12. Qd3 Nc6 13. Qb5 Qc8 14. cxb6 $6 axb6 $15 {is
typical Grunfeld play for Black}) 10... c5 $1 11. dxc5 Bc6 12. Qh4 bxc5 13. Be2
e6 {[%csl Ge4][%cal Gf6e4]} 14. Bg5 (14. Qf4 $5 Nbd7 {[%cal Gd8b8]}) 14... h6
$1 15. Bxh6 Nxe4 16. Qf4 Nxc3 17. Bxg7 Kxg7 18. bxc3 Qf6 $11 {Morozevich (2770)
-Giri (2696), Biel 2012. A game that may give a boost of popularity of this
line for Black.}) 8... Bc8 {[%cal Gc7c6,Ge7e6] Black wants to undermine
White's center} (8... Bg4 $4 9. e5 $18) 9. Be2 {proposed by Krasenkow in the
latest CBM (issue 150)} c6 10. O-O cxd5 11. exd5 {and White has a small edge
in all lines as it seems:} Ne8 {[%cal Ge8d6]} (11... b6 12. Qh4 Bb7 13. Rd1 {
[%csl Gd5][%cal Gc1g5,Ga1c1] White has a strong pawn at d5 and easy play after
Bg5 followed by Rac1} Nbd7 14. Bg5 a6 15. Rac1 Rc8 16. Nd4 {[%cal Gd4e6] now
Nd4-Ne6 is a big threat!} Qe8 17. Re1 (17. a4 {is interesting} e6 (17... Nxd5 {
is met by} 18. Bxa6) 18. dxe6 fxe6 19. Bf3 Bxf3 20. Nxf3 {[%csl Ge6]}) 17...
Nxd5 18. Bxa6 Bxa6 19. Nxd5 Rxc1 20. Rxc1 f6 21. Bh6 $36 {Bendana Guerrero
-Odeev, email 2005}) (11... e6 12. dxe6 (12. d6 $5 {is more ambitious}) 12...
Bxe6 13. Qb4 Qc8 14. Bg5 {was Novichkov (2415)-Odeev (2430), Moscow 1998} (14.
Qh4 $5 $36 {[%cal Gc1g5,Ga1c1] with the idea Bg5 and Rac1}) 14... Nc6 $132) 12.
Re1 (12. Rd1 Nd6 13. Qf4 Nd7 14. h3 Nf6 15. Be3 Nf5 16. Bc5 $14 {is the main
line offered by the new addition of the collection of analytical tools of
Quality Chess (this is Houdini 3)}) (12. h4 {is also not stupid at all. In
general Black is under a bit of pressure here}) 12... Nd6 13. Qa4 (13. Qb3 $5
Nd7 14. Be3 Nf5 15. Bf4 {is offered by Krasenkow. White seems a bit better
here also}) 13... Nd7 14. Bf4 Nb6 15. Qb3 Bg4 16. Ne5 (16. Rad1 {was better})
16... Bxe2 17. Rxe2 Rc8 18. Rd1 Nd7 {Black has equalised} 19. Nxd7 Qxd7 20. Be5
Bxe5 21. Rxe5 b5 22. Rde1 Rfe8 $132 {Gordon (2539)-Howell (2620), North
Shields ENG 2012} *

[Event "26th Summer Universiade"]
[Site "Shenzhen CHN"]
[Date "2011.08.16"]
[Round "3.1"]
[White "Wang Hao"]
[Black "Vovk, Andrey"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E81"]
[WhiteElo "2718"]
[BlackElo "2551"]
[Annotator "Ntirlis,Nikos"]
[PlyCount "75"]
[EventDate "2011.08.15"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "CHN"]
[Source "Chess Today"]
[SourceDate "2011.08.21"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. f3 O-O 6. Be3 c5 7. Nge2 Nc6 8. d5
Na5 {this move was played twice by Grischik in 2012 against Vitiugov and Dreev
but he never faced} 9. Ng3 $1 {White's idea is} a6 10. Qd2 b5 11. Bh6 {[%cal
Gh2h4,Gh4h5] and now we see clearly that with the Knights placed at a5 White
has the chance to start a ferocious attack against Black's King with h4-h5.
Computers aren't convinced but it seems that the Chinese Super-GM had made
some home preparation} e6 {it makes sense to produce central counterplay in
order to make the flank attack less appealing, but there is way-back for White
already} (11... Nxc4 12. Bxc4 bxc4 (12... Bxh6 13. Qxh6 bxc4 14. h4 {transposes
}) 13. h4 {looks very dangerous for White. I didn't go deep, but at least i
refuter my PC's first choice} Bxh6 14. Qxh6 Rb8 15. O-O-O Kh8 16. h5 Rg8 {this
is how the PC wants to defend but} 17. hxg6 Rxg6 18. Qh4 Qf8 19. e5 $1 dxe5 20.
d6 $1 h6 21. f4 $1 {leads to an irresistable attack}) 12. h4 Nxc4 13. Bxc4 bxc4
14. Bxg7 Kxg7 15. dxe6 Bxe6 16. O-O-O Rb8 17. h5 Qb6 18. Nge2 (18. Nf5+ Bxf5
19. exf5 {looks even stronger but in any case Black's position is beyong
repair already. White only needs adequate attacking technique}) 18... Rb7 19.
Nf4 Rfb8 20. hxg6 hxg6 21. Nxe6+ fxe6 22. Qh6+ Kf7 23. Rd2 Qa5 (23... d5 24.
Qf4 Kg7 25. g4 {[%cal Gd2h2] wins quickly}) 24. Qe3 {[%cal Ge4e5]} d5 25. exd5
exd5 26. Qe5 Re8 27. Qf4 Kg7 28. Nxd5 Nh5 29. Qxc4 Ng3 30. Rhd1 Nf5 31. g4 Nd4
32. Qxd4+ Kf7 33. Qf6+ Kg8 34. Qxg6+ Kf8 35. Qh6+ Rg7 36. Qd6+ Kf7 37. Qf4+ Kg6
38. Qf5+ 1-0

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2012.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "The beginning of the story..."]
[Black "?"]
[Result "*"]
[ECO "D10"]
[Annotator "Ntirlis,Nikos"]
[PlyCount "18"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e3 {What should a Classical Slav player do in
this position? This was a question that troubled me for years, untill i
finally studied the Semi-Slav for the Black side, so the answer to my problem
was obvious: "just play 4...e6". Soon i discovered that this was just the
answer to my personal problem and not the answer to the original question.} Bf5
$1 {Of course! This move should be in the blood of every Slav player, right?}
5. cxd5 cxd5 6. Qb3 {OK, so we have a problem now. Everybody plays the Bishop
back to c8 now and this exchange-variation type of position has been proven to
be unpleasant for Black in practise. This has been shown for years. But while
i was looking to this position i noticed that my engine was running at the
background and its first choice was leading to a gambit of a pawn. My first
reaction was typical. "Stupid machine. Always useless in analysing early
opening positions. But lets try and refute its evaluation, it will be a good
training exercise for my students...."} Nc6 7. Qxb7 Bd7 $1 {"Nice one indeed,
now the Queen has few squares to go, but where is the compensation after...."}
8. Qb3 Rb8 9. Qd1 {and of course i was hit with..} e5 $1 {and after trying for
literally hours, the "stupid" machine always found a way to prove dangerous
compensation for Black. "Maybe this is something new? Maybe i don't have to
re-invent the wheel. Lets open the database..."} *

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2012.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Becoming the "Glasgow Kiss".."]
[Black "?"]
[Result "*"]
[ECO "D10"]
[Annotator "Ntirlis,Nikos"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "r2qkb1r/pQ2pppp/2n2n2/3p1b2/3P4/2N1P3/PP3PPP/R1B1KBNR b KQkq - 0 7"]
[PlyCount "1"]

7... Bd7 $1 {After my "discovery" i needed some GM confirmation. So, i emailed
the line to John Shaw and Jacob Aagaard and they gave it some attention during
one of the working days at their office in Glasgow, in the heart of the
headquarters of Quality Chess. After the "bosses" approved then it was the
time some GM practice. I shared the analysis to one of the GMs i work with,
the Italian GM Sabino Brunello. Now we had to wait for our first "victim"....}
*

[Event "corr Luciano Camara memorial B"]
[Site "ICCF"]
[Date "2008.01.31"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Grifoll Miro, Joan(ESP)"]
[Black "Glinz, Adolfo Gustavo(ARG)"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D10"]
[WhiteElo "2434"]
[BlackElo "2422"]
[Annotator "Ntirlis,Nikos"]
[PlyCount "64"]
[EventDate "2008.??.??"]
[EventType "tourn (corr)"]
[Source "Opening Master"]
[SourceDate "2011.01.05"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 d5 4. e3 Bf5 5. cxd5 cxd5 6. Qb3 Nc6 $1 {so actually
this has been played in a quite serious corr game! And the game was really
exciting! Lets see...} 7. Qxb7 {the White player correctly accepted the
gambited pawn. Soon after having studied this line i had some training games
were my opponents were a bit sceptical and refused the gift} (7. Bb5 e6 (7...
Rc8 {and}) (7... Rb8 $146 {are also easily equal}) 8. Nf3 {is a position that
is probably in Black's favour. He can play in two ways} (8. Bxc6+ bxc6 9. Qb7
Qc8 {is better for Black}) 8... h6 {is what i tried in a training game} (8...
Bd6 {not fearing} 9. Nh4 (9. Ne5 O-O 10. Nxc6 bxc6 11. Bxc6 Rb8 12. Qd1 Ne4 {
seems dangerous for White}) 9... Bg4 10. h3 Bh5 11. g4 {because after} Bg6 (
11... Ne4 {is also a typical move leading to some advantage for Black}) 12.
Nxg6 hxg6 13. Bd2 a6 14. Be2 g5 {only Black can be better}) 9. Ne5 Rc8 10. Qa4
Qb6 {gave me a reasonable and quite active position}) 7... Bd7 $1 (7... Qc8 $6
{was played by Paraskeui Mourouti (a former team-mate of mine!) but after} 8.
Qxc8+ {Black cannot claim enough compensation for the pawn. So this leads me
to believe that Paraskeui simply just blundered the pawn.} (8. Ba6 {is also
quite strong here}) 8... Rxc8 9. Bb5 Bd7 10. a3 Na5 11. Bxd7+ Nxd7 12. Rb1 Nb3
13. Nf3 Nb6 14. Nd2 Nxd2 15. Bxd2 e6 16. Ke2 Be7 17. Rhc1 Nc4 18. Na2 O-O 19.
Bb4 Bxb4 20. Nxb4 a5 21. Nd3 {and in the game Georgiadou (1670)-Mourouti (1640)
, Greece 2001 Black's Benko-like compensation was not enough to draw the game.}
) 8. a3 {The basic idea of this pawn sacrifice seems to me correct because
White has to allw the position with the Queen losing 3 tempi to get back to
its initial square where Black opens favourably the position, or else he HAS
to play a3 and if he HAS to play such a move then Black should be able to find
adequate compensation somehow. In this game the strong corr player found the
only but the very effient way to do so} (8. Nb5 {seems winning because White
has the double threat of Nc7+ and Qxa8 followed by Nc7, but when Black finds
the only defence} Rc8 {White has to justify moving again a developed piece
while already behind in development} 9. Bd2 $1 {accurate but not sufficient} (
9. a3 Na5) (9. Nxa7 Qa5+) 9... e6 {followed by Rb8 and Ne4 with more than
enough comp, and if} 10. Nxa7 Nxa7 11. Qxa7 Ra8 12. Qb7 Rb8 13. Qa7 Ne4 {
Black's position seems very promising}) (8. Nf3 Rb8 9. Qa6 Nb4 10. Qe2 Bf5 $17)
(8. Qa6 Rb8 9. Qe2 {seems entirely unnatural but it was something i tried
against my machine when i was first investigating this gambit continuation.
After all, it causes no surprize the fact that the machine was keep beating me.
..} (9. Qd3 Nb4 10. Qb1 Qc8 {is again very strong for Black}) 9... Bf5 10. a3 (
10. Qa6 Nb4) 10... Na5 {and Black has again at least enough compensation.}) (8.
Qb3 Rb8 9. Qd1 e5 {is examined in some detail next}) 8... Rb8 9. Qa6 e5 $1 {
opening the position when White is behind in development} 10. dxe5 {no good
alternative exists} (10. Nf3 Rb6 11. Qe2 {places the Queen in a stupid square
giving Black even more time} Bd6 12. h3 (12. dxe5 Nxe5 13. Nd4 O-O 14. Qc2 Nc6
15. Be2 Nxd4 16. exd4 Qb8) (12. g3 Bg4) 12... O-O 13. g3 {this logical way of
trying to continue development can be punished in an instructive way} exd4 14.
Nxd4 Nxd4 15. exd4 Re8 16. Be3 Qb8 17. b4 Bxg3 {winning!}) 10... d4 11. exf6 (
11. Na4 {is met by the very impressive} Nb4 12. axb4 Bxb4+ 13. Bd2 Bxd2+ 14.
Kxd2 dxe3+ 15. Ke1 (15. Kc1 Ne4 16. Nf3 O-O $40) 15... exf2+ 16. Kxf2 Ng4+ 17.
Kg3 Nxe5 18. Nf3 O-O {and with such a King at g3 Black can even sac a whole
piece just like that!} 19. Nxe5 Qg5+ 20. Kf2 Qh4+ 21. g3 Qd4+ 22. Kg2 Qe4+ $17)
(11. Bb5 Rb6 12. Qa4 dxc3 13. exf6 Qxf6 14. Rb1 Qg6 $19) 11... dxc3 12. bxc3
Qxf6 13. Ne2 (13. Bd2 {is very unnatural but cannot be punished. Without
analysing deep the position in think that Black has adequate play after} Qg6 {
with some sample lines:} 14. Ne2 (14. Rd1 Rb6 15. Qe2 Bxa3) (14. Qd3 Bf5 15.
Qc4 (15. Qd5 Be4) 15... Ne5 16. Qd4 Bd6 17. Nf3 Nxf3+ 18. gxf3 O-O $44) 14...
Rb6 15. Nf4 Rb1+ 16. Bc1 Qc2 17. Rxb1 Qxb1 18. Nd3 Ne5 19. Kd2 Qa2+ 20. Ke1 Qc2
21. Bd2 Be7 22. Be2 Qb1+ 23. Nc1 O-O $36 {again, this is mainly
"hand-analysis". It is so fun spending time at the club with friends analysing
beautifull complicated positions like this and when returning home and the
computer gives another move as more accurate i prefer leaving the "human" move
in my analysis when the assesment is not different.}) 13... Bc5 $1 14. Nd4 O-O
15. Be2 {White is ready to go safe after castling, so Black strikes hard!} Nxd4
16. Qxf6 Nc2+ 17. Kd2 gxf6 18. Kxc2 Rfd8 {and now White faces difficult
problems! I have strong doubts if this could be help over the board. In corr
chess it proved possible.} 19. Bb2 (19. c4 Ba4+ (19... Bf5+ 20. Kc3 Bb6 {is
another beautifull idea})) (19. Kd2 Bb6 20. Ke1 Ba5 {winning}) 19... Bf5+ 20.
Kc1 Rxb2 21. Kxb2 Rd2+ 22. Kb3 Rxe2 23. Ra2 Be6+ 24. c4 Rxa2 25. Kxa2 Bxc4+ {
i would say that Black has a slight advantage but the game continuation
probably proves that it is just a draw. Anyway, reaching such an endgame with
Black right from the opening (because i believe that both sides played the
best moves after that a3 approach) is something i would very much like in
every game!} 26. Kb2 Be6 27. Rc1 Bd6 28. g3 Kf8 29. Rc6 Ke7 30. Ra6 Bc5 31. Ra4
h5 32. Re4 Kd6 1/2-1/2

[Event "TCh-ITA 2012"]
[Site "Arvier ITA"]
[Date "2012.05.01"]
[Round "7"]
[White "Horvath, Cs1"]
[Black "Brunello, S."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D10"]
[WhiteElo "2509"]
[BlackElo "2587"]
[Annotator "Ntirlis,Nikos"]
[PlyCount "78"]
[EventDate "2012.04.28"]
[EventType "team"]
[EventRounds "7"]
[EventCountry "ITA"]
[Source "Mark Crowther"]
[SourceDate "2012.05.07"]
[WhiteTeam "L'Arrocco A di Roma"]
[BlackTeam "Scavolini Datagest Pesaro"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e3 Bf5 5. cxd5 cxd5 6. Qb3 Nc6 7. Qxb7 Bd7 8.
Qb3 Rb8 9. Qd1 e5 $1 {Exactly what we had analysed! Sabino was very kind to
say in his analysis of this game in an Italian magazine that he played an idea
that i showed him some time ago and he liked so much as to give it a try
against a solid GM. Luckily for those that don't read Italian, Sabino was
generous enough to give a lecture during the Greek team championship this July
where he shared with us some of his analysis and thought during this game. You
can find his lecture here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJZwUtlG7Q4.  I am
not familiar with Sabino's analysis in the Italian magazine, but i'll try to
enrich Sabino's comments from the above video lecture with analysis of my own}
10. dxe5 (10. Nf3 {and some other minor lines are examined in our last game})
10... Nxe5 11. Be2 {a solid move} (11. Nge2 Bc5 {gives Black good compensation
as can be shown in the following lines} 12. Nd4 (12. Nf4 O-O 13. Be2 (13. Nd3
Nxd3+ 14. Bxd3 Bg4 $1 15. f3 (15. Qc2 {is met by} d4) 15... Bd7 16. O-O Re8 {
with obvious counterplay}) 13... Bc6 14. O-O Re8 {and it is not easy to find a
decent plan for White. If he tries to simplify with} 15. Nd3 {then} Nxd3 16.
Qxd3 Qc7 $5 {[%cal Ge8d8] with Red8 coming next, Black keeps the bind}) 12...
O-O 13. a3 $6 (13. Be2 {is best and after} Qe7 14. O-O Rfc8 {we have simply
transposed to our main game}) 13... Ne4 $1 {it is time to jump!} 14. Be2 Qh4 $1
15. Nxe4 (15. O-O {is met by the typical} Rb6 {[%cal Gb6g6,Gb6h6] and White is
lost!}) 15... dxe4 $15 {Black has attacking chances}) (11. f4 $6 {seems bad
and simply is bad} Ng6 12. Nf3 (12. a3 Bc5 13. Nxd5 (13. b4 Bb6 14. Na4 O-O 15.
Nxb6 Qxb6 16. Nf3 Rfe8 $15) 13... O-O 14. Nxf6+ Qxf6 15. Qxd7 Nxf4 16. Ne2 Rfd8
$15) 12... Bc5 13. Bd3 (13. Be2 O-O 14. Nxd5 Bc6 15. b4 Nxd5 16. bxc5 Re8 $17)
13... O-O 14. Bxg6 hxg6 15. O-O Qc7 16. b3 Rbc8 {and here after} 17. Nxd5 Nxd5
18. Qxd5 Rfd8 {Black keeps pressure}) (11. a3 {is not something special} Bd6
12. Nge2 (12. f4 Ng6 13. Nf3 O-O 14. g3 Bc5 $132 {[%csl Ge3][%cal Gf6g4,Gf8e8]}
) 12... O-O 13. Nf4 Bc6 14. Be2 Nc4 $132) (11. Nxd5 Nxd5 (11... Bc6 $5) 12.
Qxd5 Bb4+ 13. Bd2 Bxd2+ 14. Qxd2 Qf6 $36 {[%csl Gf6][%cal Gb8b2,Gd2b2,Gf6b2,
Ge5d3,Ge5f3] is fine for Black according to Sabino. The main idea is that the
b2 pawn is in danger after Rxb2 because Qxb2 is not possible because of the
discovered check from the Knight.}) 11... Bd6 12. Nf3 O-O (12... Qc7 $5 {is
seen briefly in the comments of the following game}) 13. O-O (13. Nxd5 $6 Nxd5
14. Qxd5 Bc6 $40 {[%cal Gd6h2,Gc6g2]}) 13... Qe7 14. Nd4 Rfc8 {"Black's
compensation is in the style of Benko Gambit" says Sabino. Houdini 3 gives a
modest plus to White's position and an evaluation of "=". From a human
perspective White's position is difficult to play and quite sensitive because
a single mistake can give Black a big advantage.} 15. Ncb5 (15. h3 {might be a
better try, but in a recent Bundeslinga game the usually quite well prepared
Ragger played} Rb6 $5 {and comfortably drew (althought not without some
adventures!). Here is the whole game for you to see and work} 16. a4 Bb4 17. a5
Rbb8 18. Bd2 Nc4 19. Bxc4 Rxc4 20. Nce2 Bxd2 21. Qxd2 Ne4 22. Qd3 Rxb2 23. Nf4
Qd6 24. Qa3 Qxa3 25. Rxa3 Nf6 26. Rd1 g6 27. Raa1 Kg7 28. Nd3 Rb8 29. Ne5 Rc5
30. Rdc1 Rbc8 31. Rcb1 R8c7 32. Rb8 Be8 33. g4 h6 34. Kg2 Rc3 35. a6 Re7 36.
Nef3 Ne4 37. Rd8 Bd7 38. Ra8 Bc8 39. Ne1 Nd6 40. Ra5 Rec7 41. Nef3 Nc4 42. Ra2
Ra3 43. Rxa3 Nxa3 44. Ne5 Bxa6 45. Nec6 Nc2 46. Nxc2 Rxc6 47. Rxa7 Rxc2 48.
Rxa6 Rd2 49. Rd6 Kf8 50. Rd8+ Kg7 51. h4 Kf6 52. Kf3 Rd1 53. Kf4 Rh1 54. Kg3
Rg1+ 55. Kf3 Rd1 56. Rh8 Kg7 57. Rd8 Kf6 {1/2-1/2 Melkumyan (2649)-Ragger 
(2655), Forchheim GER 2012}) (15. Ba6 Rc5 {[%csl Ga6][%cal Gf6e4,Gc3e4,Gd5e4,
Gc5h5] is a move that its points were explained exceptionally well by Sabino
in his lecture. In the future, after a Knight jump to e4 this Rook might
suddenly find a route to White's King side after Nxe4 dxe4. Also the Bishop is
unprotected on a6 and can fall victim of a trick like Bxh2+ followed by Qd6}
16. Nb3 {can be met by 16...Rc7 and White's pieces don't make much sense but
also the tactical solution} Nf3+ {seems strong} 17. gxf3 (17. Qxf3 Bg4 {traps
the Queen}) 17... Bxh2+ 18. Kxh2 Ne4 {and White's King is helpless...}) 15...
Bc5 16. Bd2 $2 {this is a clear mistake but you only need one in this positon
to be suddenly lost} (16. b4 {is "the equalising" move according to Sabino}
Bxd4 (16... Bxb4 17. Nxa7 {[%csl Ga2] is White's idea. Now the a-pawn is
passed. Even here Black is not worse} Rc5) 17. Nxd4 Qxb4 {[%csl Gc4][%cal
Gf6e8,Ge8d6] and White the two Bishops but Black is active and the presense of
the strong outpost at c4 improves the vlue of the Knights. Black can actually
play here something like Ne8-Nd6 to have even more control over c4. Sabino
would prefer Black and my engine supports his preference.}) 16... Nc4 17. a4
Nxb2 $17 18. Qe1 Ne4 19. Ba5 Nc4 20. Nb3 $6 a6 (20... Nxa5 {leads to a
beutifull win as Sabino's PC showed him after the game} 21. Qxa5 Bb6 22. Qe1
Nxf2 23. Rxf2 Qxe3 24. Nd2 Rc2 25. Rd1 {and it looks like White has survived
but after} a6 {is the typical little move which is difficult to see at the end
of the combination and it is this little push White needs to collapse here})
21. Nxc5 Rxc5 22. Bxc4 dxc4 23. f3 axb5 24. fxe4 Rg5 25. Bc7 Rc8 {"a bit lazy",
Brunello. Quicker was} (25... Bc6 $1) 26. Bf4 Rg6 27. axb5 Qxe4 28. Bg3 Bxb5 {
but this is still winning. Note that Black now is a pawn up! So the gambit
proved to be a good investment after all! The rest is self-explanatory} 29. Qc3
Bc6 30. Ra2 h6 31. Rd2 Re6 32. Re1 Ba8 33. h3 Rg6 34. Kh2 Rc5 35. Qa3 Rxg3 36.
Rd8+ Kh7 37. Qxa8 Rxg2+ 38. Kh1 Qxa8 39. Rxa8 Rd2 {Ntirlis,Nikos: '0-1 Horvath,
C (2509)-Brunello,S (2587)/Arvier ITA 2012'} 0-1

[Event "40th Olympiad Open"]
[Site "Istanbul TUR"]
[Date "2012.08.31"]
[Round "4.37"]
[White "Winants, L."]
[Black "Shaw, J."]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D10"]
[WhiteElo "2543"]
[BlackElo "2424"]
[Annotator "Ntirlis,Nikos"]
[PlyCount "287"]
[EventDate "2012.08.28"]
[EventType "team-swiss"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "TUR"]
[Source "Mark Crowther"]
[SourceDate "2012.09.03"]
[WhiteTeam "Belgium"]
[BlackTeam "Scotland"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "BEL"]
[BlackTeamCountry "SCO"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e3 Bf5 5. cxd5 cxd5 6. Qb3 Nc6 7. Qxb7 Bd7 8.
Qb3 Rb8 9. Qd1 e5 {"I played your Slav Gambit" said to me John during the
"book signing" even at the Olympiad. While some meters away Polgar, Marin,
Flear, Schandorff and many other Quality Chess authors were signing books to
the happy chess funs that were around at the official book store of the
organisers, me, John and Jacob were discussing this exact line!} 10. Nf3 $5 (
10. Nge2) (10. Bb5) (10. a3 {and other silly moves are just waiting to be
tried. Most or them should be met simply by ...Bd6. Black cannot kill White
just yet. He needs some development to do so.}) 10... e4 {"I probably should
have played just ...Bd6 here" John said} (10... Bd6 {was in fact tried in a
very serious encounter between two 2700 opponents} 11. dxe5 (11. Be2 {is
possible, but now ...e4 comes under better circumstances because the Knight
cannot jump to e5, but also 11...O-O is possible which will certainly
transpose to lines we have seen or will see in a while}) (11. Nxe5 Nxe5 12.
dxe5 Bxe5 {[%cal Gd8c7,Ge5b2,Gc7c3,Gb8b2] must be fine for Black. The pressure
will mount after Qc7 at White's King side}) 11... Nxe5 12. Be2 Qc7 $5 {another
interesting way to play the position. We can assume with some certainty that a
close to 2700 player has seen this position before in his "home-lab"} (12...
O-O 13. O-O Qe7 {transposes to the Brunello game}) 13. Nd4 O-O 14. h3 $5 (14.
O-O Nc4 {leads to the following complications} 15. b3 Bxh2+ 16. Kh1 Nd6 17. Ba3
Qa5 18. Ncb5 Nxb5 19. Bxf8 Be5 20. Be7 Nc3 21. Qc2 Nfe4 {and Black is better!
I don't know if this line is forced or not, but it is certainly attractive
from Black's point of view!}) 14... Ne4 (14... Nc4 15. Qc2 Rfc8 {must give
Black great compensation also}) 15. Nxe4 dxe4 16. b3 Qc5 {there are many
interesting possibilities here and i believe that this is not the most
accurate for Black, but still i couldn't prove it wrong} (16... Qd8 {[%cal
Gd8f6] going to f6 must be investigated with detail}) 17. Bb2 (17. O-O Ng6 (
17... Nf3+ 18. Bxf3 Qe5 19. g3 exf3 20. h4 Bh3 21. Re1 {looks scary for WHite
but the cool-headed PC sees nothing and prefers White}) 18. f4 exf3 19. Nxf3
Bc6 20. Qd4 Rbd8 21. Qxc5 Bxc5 22. Kh2 Rfe8 23. Rd1 Rxd1 24. Bxd1 Ne5 {leads
to equality according to Houdini 3. As i said, i don't trust this line entirely
}) 17... Qa5+ 18. Kf1 Rfc8 19. g3 Rb6 20. Kg2 h5 (20... Bb8 $5) 21. h4 Ng4 $6 (
21... Qd5 $5) 22. Rc1 $1 {and White had some edge in Wojtaszek (2713)-Wang Yue
(2691), Poikovsky RUS 2012, a game that ended a draw nevertheless. Another
success story for the "Glasgow Kiss" gambit and certainly lots of virgin
ground to investigate!}) 11. Ne5 $14 Bd6 12. Nxd7 Qxd7 13. Bb5 (13. Be2 {may
be even better and was a choice of a Quality Chess GM author, the "tactimania"
Glenn Flear. The first time i met Flear was during the European Team
Championship in Porto Carras 2011 when during my army service i managed to get
some free days to go and help the Danish team during the event. Flear was the
captain of the English team and was having a chat with the reserve player of
the team for that day, GM Pert. Pert is writting a book for Quality Chess, a
GM Repertoire on the Classical Slav! So you can imagine me promoting "my line"
to the two Englishmen the first minutes i introduced myself to them despite
Jacob's warning that i shouldn't begin talking  to everybody using chess
variations! Both are known Slav Defense funs and both showed a level of
scepticism to this gambit. To be honest, i also was sceptical during that time.
Now i can state with some confidence that i am pretty sure that the gambit is
sound!} h5 14. a3 a5 15. f3 exf3 16. Bxf3 Qc7 17. Nxd5 Nxd5 18. Bxd5 Ne7 19.
Ba2 Bxh2 20. Qf3 f6 21. e4 Bg3+ 22. Kf1 h4 23. Qe2 Qb6 24. Qc4 Rc8 25. Qa4+ Kd8
26. Bd2 Rh5 27. Rc1 Rxc1+ 28. Bxc1 Nc6 29. Bd5 Rxd5 {Oups! White was winning
for some time in this game, but suddenly it is 0-1 (Flear,G (2459)-Arjun,B 
(2210)/Lille FRA 2012)}) 13... O-O 14. O-O Rfc8 15. f3 Qe6 16. Ba4 Na5 17. Bc2
Bb4 18. fxe4 Nxe4 19. Nxe4 dxe4 20. Ba4 g6 21. a3 Bd6 22. b4 Nc4 23. Bb3 Rb7 (
23... a5 {was better but still tough. Now White is winning but John managed
not to spoil the good percentages of the gambit and gained the half point!})
24. Ra2 Qd5 25. Rc2 Rbc7 26. Qe2 Qb5 27. Bd2 a6 28. a4 Qh5 29. Qxh5 gxh5 30. b5
axb5 31. axb5 Nxd2 32. Rxd2 Rb8 33. Rb1 Kg7 34. Bd5 f5 35. b6 Rc3 36. Re2 h4
37. b7 Ra3 38. Rc1 Ra5 39. Bc6 Kf6 40. Rb1 Ke7 41. Reb2 Ra3 42. Rb3 Ra6 43. Bd5
Ra5 44. Rb5 Ra3 45. Bb3 Ra7 46. Rxf5 (46. Bd5 {was much much much better.
White mistakenly simplyfied and the opposite-coloured Bishops proved their
reputation}) 46... Raxb7 47. Rf7+ Kd8 48. Rxb7 Rxb7 49. Bc2 Rc7 50. Bxe4 Re7
51. Bf5 Rxe3 52. Bxh7 Re2 53. Rd1 Rb2 54. Bf5 Ke7 55. Bh3 Bf4 56. Re1+ Kd6 57.
Re4 Rb1+ 58. Kf2 Bxh2 59. Rxh4 Bg1+ 60. Ke2 Kd5 61. Bf5 Rb2+ 62. Kd3 Rb3+ 63.
Kc2 Rg3 64. Be4+ Kxd4 65. Bf3+ Ke5 66. Kd3 Ba7 67. Re4+ Kf6 68. Ra4 Rg7 69.
Ra6+ Ke5 70. Ra5+ Kf4 71. Bd5 Kg3 72. Ra6 Bg1 73. Rh6 Ba7 74. Bf3 Kf4 75. Rf6+
Ke5 76. Rf8 Rg3 77. Rf7 Bg1 78. Kc4 Bb6 79. Re7+ Kf6 80. Re8 Bg1 81. Kd5 Rg5+
82. Ke4 Bh2 83. Rf8+ Kg7 84. Ra8 Re5+ 85. Kd3 Bg3 86. Be4 Kf6 87. Ke3 Rg5 88.
Kf3 Rg7 89. Ra6+ Ke5 90. Ra5+ Kf6 91. Rb5 Ke6 92. Rb6+ Ke5 93. Bg6 Be1 94. g4
Bd2 95. Bf5 Bg5 96. Re6+ Kd4 97. Re4+ Kd5 98. Re8 Kd4 99. Be6 Bc1 100. Ba2 Bg5
101. Re4+ Kc5 102. Re5+ Kd6 103. Rd5+ Ke7 104. Bb1 Kf6 105. Rf5+ Ke7 106. Rb5
Kf6 107. Rb6+ Ke5 108. Bf5 Bc1 109. Re6+ Kd5 110. Ra6 Bg5 111. Be6+ Kd4 112.
Bb3 Bc1 113. Ra5 Bg5 114. Be6 Bh6 115. Rd5+ Kc3 116. Ke4 Rg5 117. Bf5 Rg7 118.
Rc5+ Kb4 119. Rc6 Bg5 120. Kd5 Be3 121. Rc2 Bg5 122. Ke6 Re7+ 123. Kd5 Rg7 124.
Be6 Bf6 125. Rc4+ Kb5 126. Rf4 Bg5 127. Rf3 Kb4 128. Kd4 Kb5 129. Bd5 Kb4 130.
Rb3+ Ka4 131. Rf3 Kb4 132. Ke5 Kc5 133. Rc3+ Kb4 134. Rc2 Kb5 135. Be6 Kb4 136.
Bf5 Kb5 137. Be4 Kb4 138. Rc8 Kb5 139. Kf5 Kb4 140. Bd5 Bd2 141. Be6 Be3 142.
Rd8 Kc5 143. Kf6 Bg5+ 144. Kxg7 {I have no more to say on this gambit. The QC
team did everything they could to warn you. This gambit exists and can kill
you. Which side do you want to be? Happy hunting!} 1/2-1/2

