[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Grandmaster Repertoire 11"]
[Black "updated line"]
[Result "*"]
[ECO "A48"]
[Annotator "Boris Avrukh"]
[PlyCount "28"]
[EventDate "2010.06.12"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "7"]
[EventCategory "14"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. Bg5 Bg7 4. Nbd2 O-O {In this popular position White has
a choice of three different continuations:} 5. e4 {I believe Black shouldn't
wait and see if White can benefit something from refraining from immediate 5.
c3 , but to strike first with principal} d5 $1 6. exd5 {Instead there are
three other options:} Nxd5 {Samoe sereznoe sdes} 7. c3 h6 8. Bh4 {Here I like}
c5 (8... Nd7 9. Bc4 N5b6 10. Bb3 c5 11. O-O cxd4 12. Nxd4 Nc5 13. Re1 $146 Re8
14. N2f3 Bg4 15. Qc2 {, or} (15. h3 Bxf3 16. Qxf3 Nxb3 17. axb3 Qd7 {with idea
18...e5}) 15... g5 (15... Nxb3 16. axb3) 16. Bxf7+ $1 {propustil v knige} (16.
Bg3 e6 {with very complex and double-edged play.}) 16... Kxf7 17. Ne5+ Bxe5 18.
Rxe5 Rh8 19. f3 $40) 9. dxc5 Qc7 {Here we have two games:} 10. Bg3 ({Another
encounter saw:} 10. Bc4 Qxc5 11. O-O {and I believe Black should have played}
Nf4 $146 ({In the game Black opted for} 11... Rd8 {Blazquez Lopez-Gofshtein
Dos Hermanas 2003 and despite successful outcome of the game, Black would be
in trouble with development of his queenside after} 12. Qb3 $1) 12. Bg3 {I
also examined} (12. Re1 Nc6 13. Bg3 {then we can play} Nh5 {with reliable game,
for instance:} 14. b4 Qb6 15. Be5 Nxe5 16. Nxe5 e6 $11) 12... e5 {Worse} (12...
Nh5 13. b4 Qb6 14. Be5 Nc6 15. Bxg7 Kxg7 16. Re1 $14 {and White maintain some
pressure.}) 13. Bxf4 exf4 14. Qe2 Qc7 15. Rad1 Nc6 {and I believe we reached
approximately balanced position, when bishop's pair fully compensate Black
problems with pawnstructure.}) 10... Nf4 $1 ({The natural} 10... Qxc5 {runs
into} 11. Nb3 Qc6 12. Be2 {and Black pieces are lack of coordination.}) 11.
Bxf4 {In my opinion giving up dark-squared bishop so easily is obvious
consession. Others moves were more challenging, but I didn't manage to find
where White can pose Black problems:} (11. Nc4 Na6 12. Qc1 e5 13. b4 Rd8 $1 {
Black has a lot of compensation for the  pawn, with main point being} 14. Nd6
Nxc5 $1 15. bxc5 Qxc5 16. Ne4 Qc6 17. Ned2 Bf5 $36 {with strong initiative for
material deficit.}) (11. Nb3 Rd8 12. Qc1 e5 13. Bxf4 exf4 14. Be2 a5 15. a4 {or
} (15. O-O a4 16. Nbd4 g5 $1 {and Black will regain pawn with nice game.})
15... Na6 16. O-O {In case of} (16. Bxa6 bxa6 $1 17. O-O Rb8 {Black has nice
compensation for being pawn down.}) 16... Be6 17. Nfd4 Bd5 (17... Bxd4 18. Nxd4
Nxc5 {also not worse for Black.}) 18. Bf3 Nxc5 {with balanced position.}) 11...
Qxf4 12. Be2 {this has been occured in  Simic-Paunovic,D Belgrade 1989, Black
could have try} Qc7 $5 $146 13. Nb3 a5 14. a4 Na6 $15 {with better game.} *

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2013.06.15"]
[Round "?"]
[White "12.a4 Benko"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "*"]
[ECO "A59"]
[Annotator "Ntirlis,Nikos"]
[PlyCount "85"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 b5 4. cxb5 a6 5. bxa6 g6 6. Nc3 Bxa6 7. e4 Bxf1 8.
Kxf1 d6 9. Nf3 Bg7 10. g3 O-O 11. Kg2 Nbd7 12. a4 $1 {This variation has
become very topical today. I discovered this idea some time ago and i showed
it to my friend GM Sabino Brunello. Sabino played it and drew against the
super- GM Fabiano Caruanna at the 2011 Italian Championship, but sadly forgot
the analysis quite early in the game and didn't get a real advantage, only a
slightly more comfortable position. Shortly after that game the book "The
Kaufman's Repertoire" by the American GM Larry Kaufman got published where he
offered some analysis of this continuation. From that time the popularity of
this move really went on top. Despite this, the recently published Benko books
from GMs Aveskulov and S.Kasparov not even mention this possibility. Also,
you'll not find this as well in GM Alterman's "Black's Gambits" book published
by QC, even though Alterman's intentions was primary to teach the ideas and
not focous on theoretical continuations.} (12. Re1 $6 Ng4 $1 13. Nd2 $1 Nge5
14. Qe2 $1 Nb6 {is found in Alterman's book. Black played excellently and had
a fine game after} 15. f4 Ned7 16. Nf3 Na4 17. Nd1 Qc8 {in the game Yusupov
-Baklan, Germany 1998. We can see clearly White's intention of an improvement
over this game with the move 12.a4! After 14...Nb6 in the above game White
would like to have the a4-a5 move! At least, this was my idea, when i showed
this line to Sabino. Also, the Rook may prove to be extremely usefull at the
h-file. For example is Black starts his Knight tour with Ne8-Nc7, maybe h2-h4!
would be dangerous.}) {Sadly, i cannot offer a reliable, bullet-proof solution
to the 12.a4 problem for Black. All i can do is to give an idea i found quite
difficult to break down.} 12... Ra6 $5 {This move is usually connected with
the plan of Qa8 and e7-e6, but here it is more of a preparation to double, or
even triple Rooks at the a- or b-file in order to put pressure at the
"prematurely" advanced pawns at the Queenside.} (12... Ne8 {is the only move
that has good statistics for Black in my database, albeit in only a handfull
of games. I quite like here} 13. h4 $1 h5 14. Bg5 Nc7 15. Qd2 {as played by
the Danish no 1 PH Nielsen with White. Nielsen's game is very instructive, so
i decided to offer a few more moves} Ne5 16. Nxe5 Bxe5 17. Bf4 Bh8 18. Rhe1 Rb8
19. e5 {and in Nielsen -Zaragatski, Baden Baden GER 2012 White was better and
eventually won.}) 13. Qc2 {This is by far the most popular move in practice.}
Qa8 14. Nb5 {White's plan is in motion. If he manages to create a solid
blockade at the Queenside he will have a free hand to create an attack at the
other side of the board, the side he is superior.} (14. Ra3 Rb8 15. Nb5 Rb7 $1
{Compared to the main game, Black is in place to defend c7 with the Rook
rather than the Queen and this seems like a small gain.} 16. Re1 Nb6 17. b3
Nbd7 18. Qa2 Ne8 19. Nd2 Ne5 20. Nc4 Nd3 21. Rd1 Nxc1 22. Rxc1 Nf6 23. Re1 {
and a draw was agreed in Mikheev -Verhoef, ICCF 2012. White definately doesn't
like to have his Bishops exchanged for the Knight. He has created now the
blockade he planned at the Queenside, but any attempt of creating an attack at
the other side is doomed to fail because Black has an unchallenged
dark-squared Bishop. This position seems like a positional draw, so both
players called it a day.}) 14... Qb7 15. Bg5 {White has to find a more
convincing continuation at this point in my opinion} (15. Ra3 {is a typical
idea in this variation but after} Rfa8 16. Bd2 Nb6 17. Nc3 $6 {was seen in
Coves Tomas -Martinez Lopez, Burjasot 1995} (17. b3 $1 $146 {is definately
more critical, but after} Nc8 18. Bc3 Na7 19. Nxa7 R6xa7 {Black's solid
position is very difficult to be broken down. This might be White's best. I
guess that he is a bit better, but i still have to find a way to prove that
White's edge can cause somekind of harm to Black. On the other hand as Black i
woudn't be worried much.}) {Here} 17... Nc4 $1 $146 {was the obvious move with
enough counterplay for claiming dynamic equality}) 15... h6 16. Bxf6 {The same
concesion as we saw before, but this time White is mainly playing for central
pressure.} (16. Bd2 {on the other hand can be met by} e6 $5 17. dxe6 fxe6 18.
Rhe1 g5 $1 $132 {[%cal Gd6d5] planning ...d5 next and it seems that Black's
counterplay is real and dangerous.}) 16... Nxf6 17. Rad1 e6 $6 (17... Rfa8 $146
18. b3 Ne8 19. Rhe1 Nc7 20. Nxc7 Qxc7 21. Nd4 Bxd4 22. Rxd4 Rb6 23. Rb1 Qb7 24.
Rc4 Rb8 {looks like a draw to me, unless i am missing something}) 18. b3 exd5
19. exd5 Re8 20. Qd3 Re4 21. Rhe1 Rb4 22. Kg1 (22. Nd2 $1) 22... Bf8 23. Nh4
Qd7 24. Ng2 Qf5 25. Ne3 Qf3 26. h3 Ne4 27. Rf1 Ng5 28. Nc4 Rxb3 29. Qxf3 Nxf3+
30. Kg2 Rxa4 31. Nbxd6 Nd4 32. Ra1 Rbb4 33. Rxa4 Rxa4 34. Rb1 Rb4 35. Ra1 Nf5
36. Ra8 Nxd6 37. Nxd6 Rd4 38. Ne8 Kh7 39. Ra7 Kg8 40. Rc7 c4 41. Rc6 Bb4 42. d6
c3 43. Rc8 {1/2-1/2 Cmilyte,V (2525)-Rasulov,V (2515)/Konya TUR 2012.  So,
this seems like a good variation for further investigation for the ambitious
Benko player. I wish i could offer more than that. If something comes to our
attention we'll certainly let you know!} *

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2013.06.15"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Dreev vs... Petrov!"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "*"]
[ECO "A70"]
[Annotator "Ntirlis,Nikos"]
[PlyCount "52"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 e6 4. Nc3 exd5 5. cxd5 d6 6. e4 g6 7. h3 Bg7 8. Bd3
O-O 9. Nf3 {A few days ago I received the book "Dreev Vs the Benoni" published
by Chess Stars and, as you guessed, with Dreev being the author. The book is
nice, well structured, packed with critical analysis in a critical variation
and covering not only the Modern Benoni but also other "Benonis" like the
Czech for example. It was quite natural for me to see what Dreev has in mind
against the lines given by GM Marian Petrov in GM Rep vol 12 The Modern Benoni.
In this position Petrov seems to offer to "solutions" for Black: 9...b5 the
Main Line and 9...Nh5!? as an alternative which leads to positions where Black
has counterplay. In all other lines covered by Petrov, Black cannot expect
equality if his opponent is well prepared} b5 (9... Nh5 {is actually covered
by Dreev via a move order difficult to follow in his book if on the other hand
you hold Petrovs! After} 10. O-O Nd7 11. Bg5 Bf6 12. Be3 Re8 13. Re1 Ne5 14.
Be2 Nxf3+ 15. Bxf3 Ng7 16. Qd2 Be5 {we find this position in page 143 of GM
Per 12, but this is not covered in Dreev's book at all! He is examining though
the similar position with the pawns already at a4 (White) and ...a6 (Black).
In this position, Dreev's proposal seems to be} 17. Bg5 $146 (17. Bf4 a6 18. a4
b6 $132 {[%cal Ga8a7,Ga7e7] is given by Petrov}) 17... Qc7 18. Bf4 {this line
is not seen in Petrov's book. If Black plays here 18...a6 we'll transpose to
Dreev's book, but i think that better is} Bd7 $1 {[%cal Gb7b5]} 19. a4 {
(otherwise ...b5)} Bxf4 $1 20. Qxf4 Re5 $132 {[%cal Ga8e8,Gf7f5] Black has
taken advantage of not playing ...a6 and now has good chances of counterplay.
Both ...Rae8 and ..f.5 are ideas. I don't think that Black is any worse here.})
10. Bxb5 Nxe4 11. Nxe4 Qa5+ 12. Nfd2 Qxb5 13. Nxd6 Qa6 14. N2c4 Nd7 15. O-O Ne5
16. Nxc8 (16. Nxe5 Qxd6 17. Nc6 Bb7 {is given as equal by both Dreev and Petrov
}) 16... Raxc8 17. Nxe5 Bxe5 18. Re1 (18. Qf3 Rfe8 (18... Rfd8 $1 {the exclam
by Dreev} 19. Bg5 Rd7 {and according to Dreev's analysis Black equalises}) 19.
Rd1 c4 {this is the "solution" offered by Petrov. Dreev here gives a novelty}
20. Rb1 $1 $146 {but according to him, after} Rcd8 {Black equalises}) 18...
Rfe8 (18... Qd6 19. Qa4 $146 {another novelty suggested by Dreev which
naturally Petrov couldn't have predicted. After} Qxd5 20. Bh6 Rfd8 21. Re2 $14
{Dreev suggests that White is better, although he admits that it is not much.})
19. Bg5 Bd4 20. Bf4 $146 {Only this novelty can give traces of an advantage
according to Dreev, but frankly it is nothing in my opinion} Bxb2 {This is not
mentioned by Dreev} 21. Rb1 (21. Rxe8+ Rxe8 22. Rb1 Qxa2 23. Qc2 {and here the
point is} Re2 $1 24. Qxe2 Qxb1+ 25. Kh2 Qf5 {and Black is equal}) 21... Bc3 22.
Rxe8+ Rxe8 23. Be3 c4 24. Qe2 Bf6 25. Rc1 Rc8 26. d6 Qc6 $11 {There is no
reason that White is any better here.} *

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2013.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Problems in the Tarrasch?"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "*"]
[ECO "D34"]
[Annotator "Ntirlis,Nikos"]
[PlyCount "45"]

1. d4 {An idea played by Giri threatens our Tarrasch Repertoire presented in
GM Rep 10. I was certain that something new will come there as many strong
players have adopted the Tarrasch Defence recently, so White had to find some
promising ideas, otherwise...} d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 c5 4. cxd5 exd5 5. Nf3 Nc6 6.
g3 Nf6 7. Bg2 Be7 8. O-O O-O 9. dxc5 Bxc5 10. a3 $1 {We made a good case for
this move in GM Rep 10 and we think that we have influenced lots of people} Ne4
{and this was our proposed novelty} (10... Bb6 11. b4 Re8 12. Bb2 a6 13. Rc1
Ba7 14. Na4 Ne4 15. Nc5 Bxc5 16. bxc5 Be6 17. Nd4 Bd7 18. Nc2 Be6 19. Nb4 Rc8
20. Qd3 Ne7 21. Bxe4 dxe4 22. Qxe4 Nc6 23. Qf4 Qe7 24. e4 {was seen in
Brunello -Mekhitarian, Wijk aan Zee NED 2013. It is known that Sabino won this
event with an amazing score and part of his success was this game.}) (10... Bf5
{was the choice of two well prepared IMs, so i wouldn't like to discard this
option so easily, even though i currently don't believe in it} 11. b4 Be7 12.
Nd4 (12. Bb2 d4 13. Nb5 d3 14. Nbd4 dxe2 15. Qxe2 Nxd4 16. Nxd4 Bg4 17. Qb5 Rb8
18. Nf5 Bxf5 19. Qxf5 Qd7 20. Qxd7 Nxd7 21. Rac1 Nb6 22. Be5 Rbd8 23. Bxb7 Rd3
24. Rc3 {was Horvath -Carlstedt,J Budapest 2011. White ia much better of
course, but Carlsedt is a player to follow in the Tarrasch. I had the chance
to play with him (and achieve a well played draw!) at the Odense tournament a
year ago. I did the wrong choice to trust my roommate (Jacob Aagaard) who told
me that i am playing against him with White, so i had the unpleasant task to
prepare something against the Tarrasch. After i arrived at the board i saw
that actually i am playing with Black (!) and didn't really know how to feel.
On the one hand i was completely unprepared with Black against a fairly strong
opponent, but on the other hand i wouldn't have to test my ideas with White
against the Tarrasch with him. Not that i had something very strong, but i'd
certainly go 10.a3!}) 12... Bg6 13. Be3 a5 14. b5 Ne5 15. Qb3 Nc4 16. Bg5 Nb6
17. Rad1 a4 {and in Zhao Xue -Georgiadis, Caleta 2013 Black had an edge!}) 11.
Nxd5 Be6 12. Nc3 Nxc3 13. bxc3 Qxd1 (13... Re8 {was a "sophisticated" idea
that I used when testing this position against my co-author, Jacob Aagaard in
some blitz games at the old office in Glasgow. Black wants to play ...Bc4 next.
} 14. Qa4 (14. Qd3 {stopping ...Bc4 is another critical line}) 14... Qa5 15.
Qxa5 Nxa5 16. Nd4 Bc4 {In Greenfeld -Swinkels, Amsterdam NED 2013 Black won,
but at some point he was worse. I guess that at this point Black has decent
compensation here and is close to being equal. So, if the main line is not
repaired somehow, it is may be time for going back to my "sophisticated" idea?}
) 14. Rxd1 Rfd8 {This is not what we proposed in GM Rep 10} (14... Rad8 15. Bf4
Rxd1+ 16. Rxd1 Bxa3 {and now Giri's} 17. Nd4 {can be met by} Nxd4 18. cxd4 b5 {
without the Rook being at a8. I am not sure what is going on to be honest. I'd
like to have a couple of weeks to analyse....} 19. Bc6 b4 20. d5 Bf5 21. Bd6 {
[%csl Gd5][%cal Gd6e7] with the idea of playing Be7 and pushing the d-pawn
looks critical to me. I'd certainly like to be White here, but maybe Black has
just enough to hold the balance? Difficult to tell without deep analysis.
Anyone who would like to offer some help? :)}) 15. Bf4 Rxd1+ 16. Rxd1 Bxa3 17.
Nd4 $1 {This idea seems very strong} Rd8 18. Bxc6 bxc6 19. Ra1 Bc5 20. Nxc6 Rc8
21. Nd4 Bc4 22. e4 Bd3 23. f3 {and in Giri -Kopylov, Germany 2012 White was
simply a pawn up for insufficient compensation and won the game.} *

[Event "4NCL 2012-13"]
[Site "Hinckley ENG"]
[Date "2013.05.05"]
[Round "10.113"]
[White "Howell, D."]
[Black "Berry, N."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C83"]
[WhiteElo "2634"]
[BlackElo "2247"]
[Annotator "Shaw,John"]
[PlyCount "131"]
[EventDate "2012.11.03"]
[EventType "team"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "ENG"]
[Source "Mark Crowther"]
[SourceDate "2013.05.06"]
[WhiteTeam "Wood Green, Hilsmark Kingfisher"]
[BlackTeam "Barbican 4NCL"]

{The following game tested a line recommended by Victor Mikhalevski in "GM
Repertoire 13: The Open Spanish".} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5.
O-O Nxe4 6. d4 b5 7. Bb3 d5 8. dxe5 Be6 9. Nbd2 Nc5 10. c3 Be7 11. Bc2 d4 12.
Nb3 d3 13. Bb1 Nxb3 14. axb3 Bf5 15. Bf4 $146 {A novelty and not mentioned in
GM Repertoire 13.} Qd5 {The thematic move in this line.} 16. Re1 O-O 17. Ba2 $6
({I would prefer} 17. b4 {but Black has no problems.}) 17... b4 $1 $15 {Now
Black has an edge; to be better after 17 moves is good going when facing a
Super-GM with Black.} 18. Nd2 Nd8 {Not bad but maybe a bit too sophisticated.
Simpler was} (18... Rfd8) ({or} 18... a5) 19. Be3 f6 20. exf6 Bxf6 21. cxb4 Nc6
(21... Bxb2 $5) 22. Bc5 Nd4 {A creative exchange sac.} ({The more materialistic
} 22... Bxb2 $1 23. Rb1 Bd4 {looks great for Black.}) 23. Bxf8 Rxf8 24. Bb1
Ne2+ $2 ({The last chance to stay in the fight was} 24... Nc2 {when after} 25.
Ra5 Qd7 26. Rf1 {White has an extra exchange and pawn for the moment, but his
b-pawns are weak and his pieces feeble.} Be7 $5 $44) 25. Rxe2 $1 dxe2 26. Qxe2
$16 {And White won in the end.} Bxb2 27. Bxf5 Qxf5 28. Rxa6 Kh8 29. Re6 Bc3 30.
Re8 Bxb4 31. Rxf8+ Qxf8 32. Ne4 h6 33. Qc4 Qe7 34. h4 Bd6 35. g3 Be5 36. Qd5
Kh7 37. h5 Kh8 38. Kg2 Kh7 39. b4 Kh8 40. b5 Kh7 41. Nc5 Bd6 42. Ne6 Kh8 43.
Kh3 Qf6 44. Kg2 Qe7 45. Nd4 Qe5 46. Qxe5 Bxe5 47. Nf5 Kg8 48. Kf3 Kf7 49. Ke4
Ke6 50. Nd4+ Kd6 51. Nf5+ Ke6 52. Ne3 Bf6 53. Nd5 Bd8 54. f4 Kd6 55. Kd4 c6 56.
bxc6 Kxc6 57. Ke5 Kd7 58. Kf5 Ke8 59. Kg6 Kf8 60. f5 Bg5 61. f6 gxf6 62. Nxf6
Bd2 63. Ne4 Be3 64. Nd6 Bf2 65. g4 Be3 66. Nf5 1-0

[Event "ch-SWE 2013"]
[Site "Orebro SWE"]
[Date "2013.07.09"]
[Round "4.5"]
[White "Smith, Ax"]
[Black "Hector, J."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D10"]
[WhiteElo "2461"]
[BlackElo "2509"]
[Annotator "Shaw,John"]
[PlyCount "81"]
[EventDate "2013.07.06"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "SWE"]
[EventCategory "10"]
[Source "Mark Crowther"]
[SourceDate "2013.07.15"]

{A test for the Glasgow Kiss. White won, but I believe Black is still OK if he
improves at move 17.} 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e3 Bf5 5. cxd5 cxd5 6.
Qb3 Nc6 {The Glasgow Kiss as it was dubbed by Nikos in a previous newsletter.
Axel Smith is the author of the forthcoming "Pump Up Your Rating" but he was
unaware of the newsletter. Jonny Hector was well aware of the newsletter.  The
first thing Axel did after the game was subscribe to this newsletter. (Hello,
Axel!)} 7. Qxb7 Bd7 8. Qb3 Rb8 9. Qd1 e5 10. dxe5 (10. Nf3 {was Winants - Shaw,
Istanbul 2012, as covered in a previous newsletter. I should have played} Bd6)
10... Nxe5 11. Be2 Qc7 {Not the only path.} (11... Bd6 {and ...0-0 is also
possible, when the queen might go to e7 (as GM Sabino Brunello has played).})
12. Nf3 Bd6 13. Nd4 O-O 14. O-O Nc4 15. b3 Bxh2+ 16. Kh1 Nd6 17. Bb2 {This is
where Axel unknowingly diverged from Nikos's analysis.} (17. Ba3 {was the line
mentioned by Nikos in the original newsletter.}) 17... Be5 {Now White can
consolidate with a safe positional edge.} ({I would recommend:} 17... Nc4 $1
18. Nxd5 (18. Bxc4 dxc4 {Black is OK. For example:} 19. f4 Ng4 20. Nd5 Qd6 21.
e4 Rfd8 22. Qf3 Rb6 $5 $13) (18. bxc4 Rxb2 {Seems level. For example:} 19. Qc1
Qb8 20. g3 Bxg3 21. fxg3 Qxg3 22. Qxb2 Qh3+ $11) (18. Bc1 Nd6 {repeats.}) 18...
Nxd5 19. Bxc4 (19. Rc1 Qd6 20. Rxc4 Be5 21. Bh5 $8 (21. Kg1 Qh6 {is good for
Black, especially as} 22. g3 $2 {allows} Nxe3 $19) 21... Rbd8 $44) 19... Rb6
20. Bxd5 Rh6 21. Re1 (21. Nf3 Bg4 $5 $40 (21... Bg3+ 22. Kg1 Bh2+ $11)) 21...
Qd8 $11 {Black has enough compensation to hold the balance. In fact. White is
the one who has to be more careful.}) 18. Rc1 $1 Qd8 ({Perhaps} 18... Qb7 {but
White still has an edge after} 19. Nf3 Bxc3 20. Bxc3 Nfe4 21. Be5 $14) 19. Nf3
Ng4 $6 {Black understandably wants some play against White's king, but nothing
works.} (19... Bxc3 20. Bxc3 $14) 20. Kg1 $1 Bxc3 21. Bxc3 Bb5 22. Bxb5 Nxb5
23. Bb2 $16 Re8 24. Qd3 Qd6 25. a4 Nc7 26. Qd4 Nf6 27. Qxa7 $18 {Axel mopped
up efficiently.} Na6 28. Be5 Rxe5 29. Nxe5 Qxe5 30. Qxa6 g6 31. Rc8+ Kg7 32.
Rxb8 Ng4 33. g3 Qh5 34. Kg2 Qh2+ 35. Kf3 Qh5 36. Qc8 Ne5+ 37. Kg2 Qf3+ 38. Kg1
Qe4 39. Qf8+ Kf6 40. Rb6+ Kg5 41. Qd8+ 1-0

[Event "Scottish Chess Championships"]
[Site "Helensburgh"]
[Date "2013.07.11"]
[Round "6.2"]
[White "McNab, Colin A"]
[Black "Strikovic, Aleksa"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "A37"]
[Annotator "Colin McNab"]
[PlyCount "61"]
[EventDate "2013.07.??"]
[EventCountry "SCO"]

1. c4 c5 2. g3 g6 3. Bg2 Bg7 4. Nc3 Nc6 5. Nf3 d6 6. O-O Nh6 7. d4 $1 {As
recommended by GM Mihail Marin in Chapter 3 of Grandmaster Repertoire 5.} cxd4
8. Bxh6 Bxh6 9. Nxd4 Bd7 10. c5 $1 Bg7 11. Nxc6 Bxc6 12. Bxc6+ bxc6 13. Qa4 $1
{Still following Marin's line. White can put pressure on Black's c- and
d-pawns, and has some advantage.} Qd7 14. cxd6 exd6 15. Rac1 O-O 16. Rfd1 ({
Perhaps I should have tried} 16. Nd5 Rac8 17. Rxc6 $5 {I was afraid that} Rfe8
{would give Black counterplay, but} 18. Rfc1 Rxc6 19. Rxc6 $1 Rxe2 20. Qc4 {
gives White a strong attacking position.}) 16... Rfd8 17. e3 d5 18. b3 h5 19.
Ne2 Rac8 20. Nf4 {Threatening Nxd5!} Qb7 21. Rc2 c5 22. Qa5 d4 $5 {A sensible
practical decision.} (22... Bf8 {looks very passive.}) 23. Rxc5 Qf3 24. Re1 ({
The computer likes} 24. Rdc1 $5 {but it looked scary to me over the board.})
24... dxe3 25. fxe3 Bf8 26. Rxc8 Rxc8 27. Qd2 Bc5 {Black's activity provides
compensation for White's rather sickly extra pawn.} 28. Qe2 Qe4 29. Qd3 Qf3 30.
Qe2 Qe4 31. Qd3 1/2-1/2

[Event "Politiken Cup 2013"]
[Site "HelsingÃ,r "]
[Date "2013.07.29"]
[Round "4.5"]
[White "Brunello, Sabino"]
[Black "Mikkelsen, Nikolaj"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A71"]
[WhiteElo "2593"]
[BlackElo "2418"]
[Annotator "Jacob Aagaard"]
[PlyCount "82"]
[EventDate "2013.07.27"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 e6 4. Nc3 exd5 5. cxd5 d6 6. Nf3 g6 7. Bg5 Bg7 8. e4
O-O $6 ({In GM Repertoire 12, GM Marian Petrov warns against giving White the
chance to get this set-up.} 8... h6 $1 9. Bh4 a6 $1 (9... g5 10. Bg3 Nh5 11.
Bb5+ $1 $16) 10. Nd2 (10. a4 g5 11. Bg3 Nh5 $11) 10... b5 11. Be2 O-O $13) 9.
Nd2 Nbd7 10. Be2 Qe7 11. O-O h6 12. Bh4 g5 13. Bg3 Ne5 14. Re1 $14 Ne8 15. Nf1
Ng6 16. Bg4 $5 Bxg4 17. Qxg4 Bd4 18. Ne3 Bxe3 19. Rxe3 Ng7 20. Qe2 Rae8 21. Re1
Qf6 22. Qb5 Ne5 23. Bxe5 Qxe5 24. Qxb7 $5 Rb8 25. Qxa7 Rxb2 26. h3 $6 (26. Qa6
$1 $16) 26... Rfb8 (26... Rc2 $5 27. Nb5 $1) 27. a4 R8b3 28. Qa5 $2 (28. Nd1 $1
$14) 28... Kh7 $2 (28... Rc2 $1 29. Nd1 (29. Nb5 Rxe3 30. Rxe3 Qb2 $1 31. Rf3
Rc1+ 32. Kh2 Qe5+ 33. Rg3 Qf4 34. Nxd6 Qxf2 $19) 29... Rb1 30. Rf1 Rcc1 31.
Ree1 Qa1 32. Qd2 c4 $1 $19) 29. Nd1 $1 Rxe3 30. Nxe3 Qxe4 31. Qc7 (31. Qd8 Qf4
32. Rf1 $16) 31... Qf4 32. Rf1 Nh5 $1 33. a5 $1 $16 Ra2 34. Ng4 $4 (34. Qb6 $3
Kg7 (34... Qe4 35. Qxd6 Nf4 36. Qf6 Kg8 37. d6 $18) (34... Ra4 35. Qb1+ Kg7 36.
Nf5+ Kf6 37. Ng3 Ng7 38. Qh7 $18) 35. Qb1 Rxa5 36. Nf5+ Kf6 37. Nxh6 $18) 34...
Kg7 35. Re1 $4 (35. Qb6 Nf6 36. g3 Qf3 37. Qxd6 Nxg4 38. hxg4 Rxa5 $11) 35...
Nf6 $1 36. Rf1 Ne4 37. Qb6 h5 (37... Nd2 $1 38. Re1 h5 39. Ne3 Nc4 $19) 38. Qb3
Re2 39. g3 Qd2 40. a6 {White resigned.} hxg4 41. a7 Rxf2 $19 0-1

