Theory
Paulsen B47
This article by Zoltan Ribli deals with the variation 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4
cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Nc3 Qc7 6.Be2 a6 7.0-0 Nf6 8.Kh1 Nxd4 9.Qxd4 Bc5 10.Qd3 b5
11.f4 Bb7 12.Bf3 0-0 13.e5 Ne8 14.Bxb7 Qxb7 15.f5 f6.
White has the following options: 16.exf6, 16.Ne4 and 16.Bf4.
Ribli provides 37 key games and extensive analysis to support his conclusion:
"Black has to be very careful, since White always has some initiative and
the e6-pawn can actually be weak. In my opinion only the continuation 16.Bf4
offers White chances. But even in this case Black, with precise play, can obtain
an even position.
Najdorf with 6.Rg1 B90
The Najdorf is one of the most popular systems in the Sicilian Defence, frequently
used in tournaments of all levels and being a fixture in the opening repertoire
of many strong players. The reason for this is the intricate and very complicated
struggle: for years, White has been trying to prove a concrete opening advantage
here, but Black has a sufficient number of possibilities at his disposal which
give him real chances for counterplay.
The subject of Jerzy Konikowski's investigation is the variation arising after
the moves 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6, and now 6.Rg1!?
White rapidly prepares the advance g2-g4 planning to start an attack on the
king. However, Black has many counterplans with good chances for an equal game.
In many lines the Rg1 just ends up unoccupied, forcing White to place it somewhere
else. Conclusion: If Black reacts precisely to White's play, he has sufficient
counterchances.
Four Knights' Defence C47
IM Evgeny Postny looks at the line 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.d4 exd4
5.Nd5 Nxe4.
The move 5.Nd5 first appeared in Yugoslav tournaments in the mid 40's. That's
why this variation is called the Yugoslav gambit (in some sources also Belgrade
gambit). The whole variation is a very rare guest in the games of top players,
probably because "official theory" is suspicious about the correctness
of the whole white concept. Certainly not everyone wishes to sacrifice significant
material at such an early stage of the game merely to obtain the initiative.
However, the line is much more often met in games of correspondence players
who are much readier to play obscure variations. Somewhat surprisingly, the
general statistics are definitely in White's favour (see below). Yet this is
a bit misleading. Many of White's wins are miniatures or "virtual miniatures"
which were actually decided at a very early stage of the game. Obviously the
surprise value of the gambit itself has a great influence on the result. Probably
this is the reason why strong grandmasters avoid these tricky variations on
principle and usually decline the gambit by 5...Be7. They want to avoid playing
long, complex and double-edged variations, where the better prepared player
has great chances of success.
There are 71 selected games in the accompanying database, more than 30% of
them are annotated by the author.
Jaenisch Gambit C63
In this contribution Alexander Bangiev and Peter Leisebein look at the line
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 f5 4.Nc3 followed by the black variation starting
with 4...Nd4.
Already Aljechin recommended this continuation which later also seemed to be
called the "Bulgarian Variation". White has several continuations
at his disposal, among others 5.Nxe5, 5.Bc4, 5.Ba4, 5.exf5 and 5.0-0.
