ChessBase Magazine Extra 213

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bg5 e6 7.f4 Be7 8.Qf3 Dc7 9.0-0-0 Nbd7

Nico Zwirs presents a game of his young compatriot Thomas Beerdsen, from the Tata Steel Challengers 2023, against Mishra Abhimanyu, the youngest grandmaster of all time. Beerdsen chose the ambitious continuation 6.Bg5 against the Najdorf Variation. Abhimanyu decided to test an idea dating back to Anish Giri with 10...h6 after 6...e6 7.f4 Be7 8.Qf3 Qc7 9.0-0-0 Nbd7 10.g4. Beerdsen's innovation, however, is remarkable: 13.a4! "A foolish move" (Zwirs). White sacrifices a pawn from his own castling position, as if by magic!

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.h4!?

The Dutch GM published a FritzTrainer last August with a repertoire recommendation against the King's Indian and the Gruenfeld: the move 3.h4!? directly poses concrete problems for Black. If you look at who has already used this weapon, you can't be entirely wrong: Magnus Carlsen, Ding Liren, Fabiano Caruana, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, and many others! In this video, Sipke Ernst offers an update to his 2022 video course and examines the variations after 3...Bg7 4.Nc3 d6 5.e4 h5 6.Nge2 as well as after 3...Bg7 4.Nc3 d5 5.h5 0-0 6.hxg6, based on the games Vachier-Lagrave against Saric and Muradli against Kramer.

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.Be3 Bg7 7.f3 0-0 8.Qd2 Nc6 9.0-0-0 d5 10.exd5

Romain Edouard continues his four-part series on the Sicilian Dragon. This time, after 9...d5, the main move is 10.exd5. Black recaptures the pawn with 10...Nxd5, and the exchange 11.Nxc6 bxc6 follows. Edouard first shows why White should not attempt the pawn with 12.Nxd5 cxc5 13.Qxd5. This is because Black counterattacks with 13...Qc7 and achieves excellent play against the white king thanks to the open lines and bishop pair. White's main move is therefore 12.Bd4, which, after 12...Bxd4 13.Qxd4 Qb6, leads to a rather relaxed Dragon, so White takes few risks. On the other hand, Black should be able to keep the game balanced. In this video, Édouard shows you what you need to know to play with black pieces!

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