Download PGN of April ’26 1 d4 d5 2 c4 games
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QGD 5.Bf4 O-O 6.e3 c5 7.dxc5 Bxc5 8.a3 Nc6 9.Qc2 Re8 [D37]
The game Praggnanandhaa, R - Sindarov, J featured the 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Be7 4.Nf3 Nf6 5.Bf4 O-O 6.e3 c5 7.dxc5 Bxc5 8.a3 Nc6 9.Qc2 Re8 10.Bg5 d4:
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where White has usually played 11.0-0-0. Praggnanandhaa tried the little known 11.Bxf6 Qxf6 12.Ne4 Qf5 13.b4, in which I could only find an old email game. Sindarov was almost certainly surprised, but reacted with 13...Nxb4!?, a very interesting piece sacrifice.
Checking for any developments in the line with 11.0-0-0 e5 12.Nd5 I found that Black has tried the simple 12...Be7 (Postny, E - Riff, J):
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instead of Anand’s spectacular 12...b5, which Max Illingworth covered in the game Topalov, V - Anand, V, London Classic 8th, London 2016. Since then White has learned that 13.cxb5 is his best move, with email games such as Fernandez Medina, E - Spanton, T never departing from an equal assessment.
Queen’s Gambit Accepted 6.0-0 Nc6 7.Qe2 a6 8.Nc3 [D28]
If Black plays 1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 e6 5.Bxc4 c5 6.0-0 a6, White would avoid 7.Qe2 because of 7...b5 8.Bd3 cxd4 9.exd4 Be7. With the fashionable 6...Nc6 instead the knight’s position on c6 makes things different, and 7.Qe2 a6 8.Nc3 becomes an interesting possibility. There aren’t a huge number of games after 8...b5 9.Bd3 Bb7 and now Sindarov’s unusual 10.a4:
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I would need to hear it from Fabiano Caruana that he was out of his preparation, as this would be a highly unusual occurrence. Yet his 10...b4 (Sindarov, J - Caruana, F) seems less good than 10...c4 11.Bc2 b4 12.Ne4 and now the 12...Na5 of Svane, R - Anton Guijarro, D. In Polzin, R - Kopylov, M Black played 12...Rc8 instead, but Stockfish slightly prefers Anton Guijarro’s choice.
Semi-Slav, Marshall Gambit 8.Be2 Na6 9.Bd6 Qxg2 [D31]
The game Nakamura, H - Sindarov, J featured the line 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 c6 4.e4 dxe4 5.Nxe4 Bb4+ 6.Bd2 Qxd4 7.Bxb4 Qxe4+ 8.Be2 Na6 9.Bd6 Qxg2 and now Nakamura chose the unusual but fashionable 10.Bf3:
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instead of the standard 10.Qd2. Had Sindarov’s preparation been less than first rate he might have chosen to put his queen on g6, which is the usual response in the 10.Qd2 line. Instead he chose 10...Qg5 and after 11.Ne2 Ne7 12.Ng3 played the simple but unusual 12...O-O:
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Nakamura’s 13.h4 was already a mistake and after 13...Qa5+ soon found himself in a lost position.
How could such an opening debacle happen to one of the best players in the World? Firstly, he might have been surprised by Sindarov’s choice of opening, and not done any specific preparation for this game. Secondly it seems that 10.Bf3 had been quite fashionable, and I’ve covered additional twelfth move options for Black in Oseledets, K - Zhaparov, R.
This was a very impressive performance by Sindarov, whose preparation seems quite outstanding. I’m nonetheless expecting the match with Gukesh Dommaraju to be very close.
See you next month! Nigel Davies
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