Raymond Keene

Bête noire

issue 05 September 2015

England’s top grandmaster, Michael Adams, exerts a powerful influence over the elite player David Navara. In rating terms Navara and Adams are about equal, but in practice Adams has a 4-0 record against his Czech opponent.
 
Navara-Adams: Biel 2015; Queen’s Gambit Declined
 
1 c4 e6 2 Nc3 d5 3 d4 Nf6 4 cxd5 exd5 5 Bg5 The well-known Exchange Variation of the Queen’s Gambit Declined. White has a number of strategies in view, one being an advance of the queenside pawns, as favoured by Petrosian. The alternative is to advance in the centre with f3 and eventually e4, as espoused by Botvinnik. Kasparov has even been known to inject a new element by castling queenside for White. 5 … c6 5 … Be7 6 e3 0-0 7 Bd3 Nbd7 8 Qc2 Re8 9 Nge2 Nf8 10 0-0 c6 11 Rab1 Bd6 12 Kh1 Ng6 13 f3 was Botvinnik-Keres, Moscow 1952. 6 e3 6 Qc2 Be7 7 e3 Nbd7 8 Bd3 0-0 9 Nge2 Re8 10 0-0 Nf8 11 f3 was Kasparov-Andersson, Belfort 1988.



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