Semi-Slav 101: Ducking the Botvinnik Variation with 6.e3

If avoiding the Botvinnik variation is important, then it's probably better not to play 5.Bg5.  If you're intent to develop the bishop outside the pawn chain while avoiding the wildness of the Botvinnik, then 6.a4 is probably a better try.

Semi-Slav 101: Transposition to the QGA

Theory in the Semi-Slav is thick, beginning with the Meran and continuing into the Moscow, Anti-Moscow, and Botvinnik. Then there's the principal Anti-Meran variations involving 6.Qc2. See, e.g., Games 14 and 18 below. One solid way for White to side step the heavy theory is to play an even earlier Qc2, as in 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Qc2. Black has several options for handling this try by White and the best may be the simplest: 4...dxc4. This leads to a species of QGA. After 5.Qxc4, Black will have to choose between 5...Bf5 or 5...Bg4. I prefer the latter to slow down the e pawn and the big White center, but it may be a matter of taste. Compare the following.

Semi-Slav 101: Reynolds Variation

The Reynolds variation arises after White pushes to d5 rather than e5. It is one of the main lines arising out of the modern Meran move order (8...Bb7), but is often reached via the Classical Semi-Slav order, too (8...a6). Don't feel sorry for Kyle Morrison. Although he's the victim of a minature here where he gives away about 400 Elos, he will later take the scalps of two near 2400s in this tournament: David Cummings and Emory Tate.

Semi-Slav 101: 6.Qc2 Bd6 7.Bd3--Gelfand is through to finals

Gelfand's game today from the World Cup continues the Semi-Slav discussion whereby White avoids both the Meran and the sharper Bg5 lines. It's hard to say what Karjakin had in mind in a must-win situation. Gelfand is almost impossible to predict as White against the Semi-Slav, but Karjakin couldn't have anticipated that Gelfand would be willing to play one of the sharpest lines.

Semi-Slav 101: Bayonet; 7...h6

This Semi-Slav variation is marked by the moves 6.Qc2 Bd6 7.g4. Black has four traditional responses to 7.g4: 7...h6, Nxg4, Bb4, and dxc4. This variation is credited to Alex Shabalov, with Alexei Shirov playing it for the first time in 1992. The variation is thus often called the Latvian Gambit (somewhat confusing since that name is given to 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 f5) or the Shabalov-Shirov Gambit. Since the opening's beginning, the most popular response has been 7...dxc4, but at top levels in recent years, the move has been 7...h6. Filtering a largely up-to-date Chessbase Mega 2009 database, I find 50 games with both players greater than 2500 in games played from 2006-2009. The results are (with a Rybka evaluation at 18 ply tacked on):

7...h6, 31x, W: 48.4%, Perf. Elo +29, (0.00) Rybka 3
7...Nxg4, 10x, W:70%, Perf. Elo -147, (0.00) Rybka 3
7...dxc4, 4x, W:37.5%, Perf. Elo +50, (0.09) Rybka 3
7...Bb4, 4x, W:37.5%, Perf. Elo +140, (0.32) Rybka 3

Draw your own conclusions on this sparse sample, but it at least indicates the top players' preference. I have not been able to confirm this preference with the aid of Rybka; however, and I've stood by 7...dxc4 with good results. We'll look at each of Black's responses in turn, beginning here with 7...h6. The conclusion on 7...h6 can be summed up as "solid."

The endgame is highly instructive. Take a look at the position after White's 56th and compare it to the 1949 game that follows.

Semi-Slav 101: Moscow--Olita Rause

Olita Rause is the strongest woman correspondence chess player in the world. To boot, she's one of the world's top ten correspondence chess players. Her opponent here is the current number two player in the world. This game introduces the Moscow variation of the Semi-Slav, the most staid of the 5.Bg5 lines. Also see Magnus Carlsen's CBM 131 annotation of his game with Topalov from the 2009 MTel Masters.

Semi-Slav 101: Anti-Moscow Gambit--Jason Bokar

The question is sometimes asked whether correspondence players need to prepare openings. The answer is yes and no. Under the standard ICCF time control of 10 in 50 it is possible to prepare just about any opening while play is ongoing. Nevertheless, there's no substitute for being intimately familar with an opening's nuances. Guiding the game into promising opening lines is more critical in correspondence than in OTB.

Jason Bokar is one of America's few correspondence Grandmasters. He demonstrates why in this game. Jason is playing in the final of the 24th Correspondence World Championship. Crosstable.

Semi-Slav 101: 6.Qc2--Inarkiev down at the World Cup

Every game has a novelty. It's more common that they're mediocre or bad, than worthy of being called the next TN, even at the GM level. Annotations assisted by Rybka 3.