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In this month's update I take a look at how Magnus has been doing with the Dutch Defence recently. Yours truly even faced him, on the White side of a Dutch! It is actually worth noting that with correct play, Magnus should actually have been worse out of the opening in all three games, so we look at how he could of improved early on.
I then noticed that Samuel Shankland, a renowned theoretician, has been playing the Grünfeld defence in some very important games recently, so I thought it would be a good idea to get up to date with those encounters.
Lastly, an engine idea in the English Defence and an early g4!? in the Benko. Some fun stuff!

Download PGN of November ’25 Daring Defences games

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London vs Dutch Defence 2 Bf4 Nf6 3 e3 g6 4 h4 [A80]

The London System has always been very popular, and Paravyan used a crafty move order in this game. As we will see it is important for Black to play 3...e6 rather than 3...g6?!:

However, Black was soon on top in Paravyan, D - Carlsen, M.


Dutch Defence 2 Bg5 h6 3 Bh4 g5 [A80]

2 Bg5!? has always been a move that worried me.In Terry, R - Carlsen, M Magnus goes for the critical idea of playing ...h6 and ...g5 which can lead to sharp and interesting play:

As we will see though, Black still has some issues to overcome. 7 Be2! instead of 7 hxg5 looks critical, and the queen's knight is much better placed on c3 than d2.


London vs Dutch Defence 2 Bf4 Nf6 3 h3 b6 4 g4 [A80]

It was quite a shock to face Magnus in Titled Tuesday, but I missed a chance to gain a good opening position after 7...Nc6?!:

In this position I should have played 8 gxf5!, see Williams, S - Carlsen, M.



Exchange Grünfeld 7 Bc4 0-0 8 Ne2 c5 9 0-0 Nc6 10 Be3 Na5 [D87]

A rather critical line of the Grünfeld. It seems that Sam forgot his theory in Firouzja, A - Shankland, S after 15 Bxb6:

Instead of playing 15...Qc8?!, 15...Qd7! is a superior move that leads to equality.


Exchange Grünfeld 8.Bb5+ Nc6 9.0-0 0-0 10.Bxc6 bxc6 11.Qc2 cxd4 [D85]

In Dubov, D - Shankland, S Dubov plays a line that should be equal with correct play, but Black is in more danger than White, due to his slightly weakened kingside:

There are some interesting new ideas that White could try on move 18, mainly my favourite push 18 h4!?



English Defence: 3 e4 Bb7 4 Nc3 Bb4 5 Ne2 [A40]

5 Nge2!? is a modern idea that some engines have suggested:

It certainly seems like a good way for White to play, if White is happy to sacrifice a pawn for the initiative. In Csonka, B - Korobov, A the critical try would be 10 Be2 instead of 10 Nb5!?



Benko Gambit Declined 4 g4 [A57]

4 g4!? is an idea that could certainly shock Black:

And as we will see in the short game Zhao, E - Hercegovac, N Black has to be very careful to pick the correct response..



Till next month, Simon

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