New in Chess 10/1988 [antikvár]

Sicilian Defence l.e4 c5 SI ill Sveshnikov alternatives Among the many variations of the Sicilian Defence that have been analysed extensively, the Poisoned Pawn Variation of the Najdorf is certainly one of the most prominent. Here novelties are often found in middlegame positions. The game Poliakov-Khenkin (SI 8.9) offers an interesting example of the intricacies of the move 15 1'a2!? that came into vogue some ten years ago and has never been clearly refuted. Another line where everything seems to depend upon very sharp middlegame complications is the 10. g4 Main Line of the Najdorf with Perenyi's move 16.5g1. The well-known dangers of the standard reply, 16 1.d7, against this are once again illustrated in the correspondence game Forsberg-Freeman (SI 9.9). In Valdes-Diaz Perez (SI 9.9) Black tried the relatively new move 16 h5 instead and defended himself successfully against his opponent's fierce assault. The last word has yet to be said on this but the whole line certainly requires great accuracy and strength of nerve on Black's part. In the 6 ^c4-line Velimirovic has been experimenting with the unusual 8 ^e3 .?b7 9.f4 in recent years. In a game against Gutman (SI 13.3) he improves upon his play from former games and wins after a complicated struggle. 6 S.e2 is a quiet move but, of course, this too can lead to a complicated middlegame, as was the case in Aseev-Ermolinsky (S111.11). Plaskett-Gelfand (S112.2) is interesting because it shows an unusual way to fight against the variation 6.f4. In the Dragon Variation, Frolov-Golubev (SI 17.4) deserves special attention. Frolov employs the little-known 9.0-0-0 d5 lO.Wel 1?, a seemingly innocuous continuation, but as this game shows, not without some poison. One of the fashionable lines in the 8.^.e2 Scheveningen Variation arises when Black leaves his knight on b8 and counters an early a4 with bS. This variation which has been adopted by world champion Kasparov is dealt with in a theoretical article by GM Ermenkov. If White refrains from a4. i)< I;. if.: I,