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Subject: (OT) Slav Defense = "A Promising Pawn Sacrifice" [GM Kavalek]

Author: José Antônio Fabiano Mendes

Date: 07:02:28 05/24/04


Please see = http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A50645-2004May23.html

Carlsen - Nielsen = 12th Sigeman tournament, May 2004

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 dxc4 5.a4 Bf5 6.Nh4!? (Former world champion
Alexander Alekhine gave credit for this knight move to Orla Hermann Krause, a
Danish analyst who found many new ideas in the Slav defense in the 1920s. White
wastes time to eliminate the ominous black's queen bishop at all costs. The
leading alternative today is 6.Ne5.) 6...Bg4 (In the game Alekhine-Stolz, Bled
1931, black played 6...e6, which Alekhine considered natural and good. He wrote:
"White will enjoy a pair of bishops [after 7.Nxf5 exf5 8.e3], but as long as
black is able to control the central squares he should not have much to fear."

Most common is the retreat 6...Bc8. Alekhine advocated 7.e3 e5 8.Bxc4 exd4
9.exd4 "with slightly better prospects for white." Garry Kasparov picked up this
line almost 60 years later but without much success. More interesting is the
piece sacrifice 7.e4 e5 8.Bxc4 exd4 9.Nf3!?, for example 9...dxc3 10.Bxf7+ Ke7
11.Qb3 with messy prospects.)

7.h3 (Black can meet 7.f3 with 7...Bd7, for example 8.e4 e6 9.Bxc4 [9.g3 b5!]
Nxe4! with an edge.) 7...Bh5 8.g4 Bg6 9.Nxg6 hxg6 10.e3 e6 11.Bxc4 Bb4 12.Bd2 (A
useful developing move. 12.Qf3 was played before, but it may not be the best
square for the queen.) 12...Nbd7 13.g5 (Carlsen decides to take the center at
the expense of overextended pawns.) 13...Nd5 14.e4 N5b6 15.Bb3 a5 16.Qe2 c5!?
(The other break 16...e5?! was played in Carlsen- Andriasian in Budva,
Montenegro, last year. After 17.dxe5 Nxe5 18.0-0-0 Nd3+ 19.Kb1 Nc5 20.Nb5!? Nxb3
21.Bxb4 axb4 22.Rxd8+ Rxd8 instead of 23.Nc7+?, white should have played
23.Rd1!, for example 23...cxb5 24.Rxd8+ Kxd8 25.Qd1+; or 23..Ke7 24.Nd6! and
white wins.)

17.d5 c4!? (A promising pawn sacrifice, giving black plenty of play on the weak
light squares.)



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