22 Sep 07
I'm finding it a bit strange that everyone's been pretty much playing e5 against e4 and d5 against d4 with some Nimzo/QID mixed in. What happened to the Najdorf or the King's Indian? Gelfand has played the Najdorf almost all his life and yet we haven't seen one Sicilian game from him. Are they all playing for a draw? Are they going to reveal some novelty in later rounds? Do they consider other openings unsound?
22 Sep 07
Originally posted by exigentskyI think this guy explains it very good:
I'm finding it a bit strange that everyone's been pretty much playing e5 against e4 and d5 against d4 with some Nimzo/QID mixed in. What happened to the Najdorf or the King's Indian? Gelfand has played the Najdorf almost all his life and yet we haven't seen one Sicilian game from him. Are they all playing for a draw? Are they going to reveal some novelty in later rounds? Do they consider other openings unsound?
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24 Sep 07
It seems like a lot of the time, after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3, d5 is played and transposes to a Semi-Slav after c6. Why would Black want to switch to a completely different system like the Semi-Slav, why not the QID? Is there some problem in the Semi-Sav after Nc3 that this avoids? Any ideas?
24 Sep 07
Originally posted by exigentskyIMO there are some recently discovered sharp QID lines that offer an advantage for White. If 3.Nc3 instead of 3.Nf3, 3...Bb4, i.e. the Nimzo-Indian, offers equality for Black.
It seems like a lot of the time, after 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3, d5 is played and transposes to a Semi-Slav after c6. Why would Black want to switch to a completely different system like the Semi-Slav, why not the QID? Is there some problem in the Semi-Sav after Nc3 that this avoids? Any ideas?
24 Sep 07
Originally posted by exigentsky[Event "Wch Candidates sf"]
What lines are you talking about specifically?
[Site "Elista"]
[Date "2007.05.27"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Bareev,Evgeny"]
[Black "Polgar,Judit"]
[Result "1-0"]
[Eco "E15"]
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Ba6 5.Qc2 c5 6.d5 exd5 7.cxd5 Bb7 8.Bg2 Nxd5
9.0-0 Be7 10.Rd1 Nc6 11.Qf5 Nf6 12.e4 d6 13.e5 Qd7 14.Qxd7+ Nxd7 15.exd6 Bf6 16.Re1+ Kf8
17.Nc3 Nb4 18.Bg5 Bxf3 19.Bxf3 Rd8 20.Bxf6 Nxf6 21.Re7 Nc2 22.Rd1 Nd4 23.Kg2 g6 24.Rxa7 Rxd6
25.Be2 Kg7 26.Bc4 Rd7 27.Rxd7 Nxd7 28.Re1 Kf8 29.a4 h5 30.Nd5 h4 31.g4 g5 32.Nc7 Nf6
33.h3 Kg7 34.Re5 Kh6 35.f4 Nh7 36.f5 Nc6 37.Rd5 Kg7 38.f6+ Kh6 39.Bb5 Nb4 40.Rd6 Rb8
41.Na6 Nxa6 42.Bxa6 Nf8 43.Bc4 Rb7 44.Kf3 Nd7 45.Ke4 Kg6 46.Bd3 c4 47.Bxc4 Nxf6+ 48.Kd4 Kg7
49.Bb5 Re7 50.Rxb6 Re4+ 51.Kd3 Rb4 52.Kc2 Nxg4 53.Kc3 Re4 54.hxg4 h3 55.Rd6 h2 56.Rd1 Rxg4
57.Rh1 Rg3+ 58.Kb4 Rg2 59.Kb3 g4 60.a5 g3 61.Bc6 Re2 62.a6 Re7 63.Ra1 Ra7 64.Bg2
1-0
[Event "Wch Candidates sf"]
[Site "Elista"]
[Date "2007.05.27"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Bareev,Evgeny"]
[Black "Polgar,Judit"]
[Result "1-0"]
[Eco "E19"]
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Bb7 5.Bg2 Be7 6.0-0 0-0 7.Nc3 Ne4 8.Qc2 Nxc3
9.Qxc3 c5 10.Rd1 d6 11.b3 Nd7 12.Bb2 Nf6 13.d5 exd5 14.cxd5 Re8 15.e4 Bf8 16.Nd2 b5
17.a4 b4 18.Qc2 g6 19.a5 Ba6 20.Bf1 Bxf1 21.Rxf1 Bh6 22.f4 Bg7 23.Rfe1 Qd7 24.Nc4 Nh5
25.Rad1 Bxb2 26.Qxb2 Ng7 27.Qg2 Rad8 28.g4 f6 29.h3 g5 30.fxg5 fxg5 31.e5 dxe5 32.d6 Qf7
33.Qd5 e4 34.Qxg5 Qf3 35.Qd5+ Re6 36.Re3 Rdxd6 37.Rxf3 Rxd5 38.Rxd5 exf3 39.Kf2 Re2+ 40.Kxf3 Rc2
41.Rd8+ Kf7 42.Rd7+ Kg6 43.Rxa7 Ne6 44.Ke4 Nd4 45.h4 Rh2 46.a6 Nxb3 47.Kd5 Kf6 48.Rxh7 Ra2
49.a7 Nc1 50.Ne5 Rd2+ 51.Kxc5 Ra2 52.Nd7+ Kg6 53.Nf8+ Kf6 54.Kxb4 1-0