New in Chess 15/1990 [antikvár]

7...Wc7: the Kasparov Variation? One of the most intriguing questions in the 6.1.g5 Najdorf Variation is how the move 7...Wc7 can form a consistent part of World Champion Kasparov's opening repertoire and yet be more or less condemned by opening books. It is alsó remarkable that Kasparov has found few followers in his preference for 7...Wc7. Perhaps it is the complexity of the ensuing variations that has deterred a lot of players. In the game Ivanchuk-Kasparov (Sl 5.1) White sidesteps these risky lines with the unusual 8.We2 but quickly finds himself in trouble. Will this game finally trigger generál interest in 7...c7? Of course many Najdorf players are quite happy with their own variations and do not need an alternative. After all if one plays the Poisoned Pawn Variation (7...1'b6) one has to work so hard to keep abreast of all developments that there will be hardly any time left for other variations. In Hector-Gavrikov (Sl 8.1) White counters 7...1'b6 with the interesting and little analysed 8.ÍLf6 gf6 9Ae2, when Black refuses the pawn on b2 (a rarity in this line!) and equalizes comfortably with 9...ÖC6. A currently very popular line is 6.1.C4, which is active but less demanding than 6.i,g5. The latest thing here is to trick Black out of 7...öbd7 by playing 7.0-0 instead of 7.Ab3, as happened for instance in Kir. Georgiev-Zaichik (Sl 13.4). After 7...b5 8.1,b3 White has the position he aimed for. In this line 9.1^3 (instead of the older 9.f4) is the popular move now and in fact the troubles that have faced Black in a number of games have been the cause for the rising interest in 6.Ac4. Another popular line is 6.!,e3 e5 7.öf3. This was played in Smirin-Gelfand (Sl 14.8) where Black played a very interesting new move. In spite of the rather abrupt end, this game is both fascinating and theoretically important. In the Dragon Variation I would like to point out the correspondence game Yim-Nesis (Sl 18.6). The