1e4 d5 2 ed5 Qd5 3Nf3!? Repertoire for White : Scandinavian

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1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. Nf3!? Bg4 put pressure on White : most popular continuation ( 3... Nf6 Natural move 4. d4 Bg4 5. Be2 Nc6 6. h3 Bxf3 7. Bxf3 Qe6+ ( 7... Qd7 8. c3 e5 9. d5 Ne7 10. c4 Nf5 11. O-O ) 8. Be3 Nd5 ( 8... O-O-O 9. c3 Nd5 10. Qe2 ) 9. Qe2 Nxe3 10. fxe3 ) 4. Be2 Nc6 5. d4 O-O-O 6. c4! Key position 6...  Qf5 most popular for Black ( 6... Qa5+ 7. Bd2 Qf5 8. d5 Bxf3 9. dxc6 Bxe2 10. cxb7+ Kxb7 11. Qxe2 Nf6 12. Bc3 or 12 Be3 ) 7. Be3 Bxf3 ( 7... Nf6 8. O-O e5 9. d5 e4 10. Nfd2 ( 10. Nd4 Nxd4 11. Bxd4 Bd6 12. Re1 h5 13. Nc3 c5 ) ) 8. Bxf3 Nxd4 [%cal Re3d4,Rf3g4] [#] Black grabs a pawn. White has two options here. 9 Bd4 and 9 Bg4 to be continued 9. Bxd4 ( 9. Bg4 Nc2+ 10. Qxc2 Qxg4 11. O-O e5 ( 11... a6 12. b4 ) 12. Bxa7 ) 9...  Qe6+ 10. Be2 Qe4 ( 10... c5! 11. Qa4 ( 11. O-O Rxd4 12. Qc2 ) 11... cxd4 12. Qxa7 Nf6 13. Na3 d3! = 14. Qa8+ Kd7 15. Qa4+ Draw ) 11. Qa4 ( 11. O-O Rxd4?! ( 11... Qxd4 12. Qa4 [#] ) 12. Qa4! ( 12. Nd2 Qe6 ( 12... Qf4 13. Qa4 Rxd2 14. Rad1 Nf6 15. Qxa7 ) 13. Qa4 Rxd2 14. Rad1 Rxd1 15. Rxd1 Nf6 = ) 12... Qxe2 13. Qxa7 Qxb2 14. Na3 +- ) 11...  Qxd4 ( 11... Rxd4 12. Nd2 ) 12. O-O e6 13. Nc3 Bd6 14. Nb5 Qe5 15. Nxd6+ cxd6 16. Rfe1 Kb8 17. Bf3 Qc5 18. b4 Qc7 *

1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. Nf3 !?

3..Bg4 4 Be2 Nc6 5 d4 0-0-0 6 c4!

6..Qf5 7 Be3

7..Bf3 8 Bf3 Nd4 next position is

2 choices for White to be continued

Sicilian Taimanov repertoire for Black against Be3,Qd2,0-0-0,g4 played by White (B48)

http://view.chessbase.com/cbreader/2018/7/12/Game26963484.html

Typical position Taimanov:
White played Be3,Qd2,f3,0-0-0
Black played Qc7,Ne5,b5 leaving king in the center.

Game can become quite sharp

B48 typical position

Full repertoire analyzed  and can be replayed in Chessbase interface  (B48 opening)

http://view.chessbase.com/cbreader/2018/7/12/Game26963484.html

Magnus Carlsen - Fabiano Caruana 2018 Altibox chess game analysis

Chessgames Link : Carlsen - Caruana 1-0 Norway Altibox 2018
https://chess24.com/en/read/news/norway-chess-1-carlsen-shows-caruana-who-s-boss

Here's the game to be replayed. Carlsen won in a fairly convincing manner
The world champion played the bishops' opening 1.e4 e5 2 Bc4, escaping the Spanish or Petroff.
Typical of Carlsen trying to find a position to play, not trying to play twenty moves of theory.

After 12 moves, White to play. Black just played ..b5 expanding on the queen side.
But Carlsen will find a way to fight back against these pawn advances.



Here, White played 13 a4! challenging Black pawns.
Caruana played 13..b4 and it followed
14 cb4 ab4 15 Ne3 Bb7 16 d4!? fixing black pawns.

Position after 26 Rc1

Here, Carlsen has sacrificed a pawn but obtained a clear blockade on dark squares.
Without the bishops on dark squares, Black with an extra pawn remains static defending d5 and b4.
With his last move, Carlsen can activate his rook with Rc1-c5 which would regain the pawn with benefits.

Black play 26 .. Rc7 ? which simply drops the b4 pawn right away. 26..Qa6 was the best defense for Black, aiming for e2 square.
26..Qd8 possible also

Position after 32 ..Qc1

Here Carlsen played 33 b4 with a strong advantage. after another 30 moves, he duly converted into a win. The candidate will have to step up his play when under pressure as Carlsen is deadly when having an advantage.

Full game analysis here: you can replay game and annotations

Dragon 9..d5 line : White repertoire

We are presenting the second main variation in the 0-0-0 repertoire, Black plays ...d5 to reach the following position after 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 g6 6. Be3 Bg7 7. f3 O-O 8. Qd2 Nc6 9. O-O-O d5!?

This makes sense as White did not play Bc4 controlling d4. However, White can here as well fight for an edge

10. Qe1 e5 11Nc6 bc6 

White must put presssure on the black center pawns.  12. exd5 Nxd5 13 Bc4 Be6 14 Ne4

 

This is where White has to be careful not letting Black attack the White king by e5-e4 and Rb8

14 ..Qc7 ( 14... h6  15. Bc5 Re8 16. h4 or 16.g4 +=) 15 Bc5 Rfd8 16 g4

here Black typically plays its knight on f4 to free herself from the pressure. The Knight on e6 will challenge the Bishop on c5. 16..Nf4 17 Be6 Ne6 18 Bd6 Qb6 we reach the following

White can continue with either g4-g5 or h2-h4 with pressure. The Bd6 is super strong.


Note 1: ..f7-f5 cannot be played without preparing it with ..h6

Note 2: Black can play 12..cd5 with the following 12... cxd5 13. Bg5 Be6 14. Bc4  14... Qc7 15. Bxd5 which is the best chance (15. Bxf6 dxc4 16. Bxg7 Kxg7 17. h4 ) 15... Nxd5 16. Nxd5 Bxd5 17. Rxd5 Rfc8 18. Qd2 a5

Note 3: Black can play 10..e6 without the tension in the center. White should proceed with 11h4! with an edge as well

Dragon 9..Nd4 and 10..Be6 variation : White repertoire recommendations

Sicilian Dragon , please see first post on July 1st
Black reacts by exchanging in d4 and starts attacking on the queen side Here's how to fight for the initiative for White
9... Nxd4 10 Bd4 10... Be6 11. Kb1 Qc7

12. h4 !? starting the attack 12... Rfc8 13. h5 Qa5 ( taking on h5 is not possible for Black due to attack on column h)

14. hxg6 14... hxg6 15. a3 Rab8 16 Bd3 we reach the following position

16.. Bc4 !? ( 16... b5 17. Qg5! Qc7 18. e5! ) 17. Rh4 !? ( if 17. Bxc4 Rxc4 18. Qc1 e6 19. g4 it is promising as well for White)
17... b5 18. Bxc4 18... bxc4 19. Ka1
we reach the key position below

White has the edge += ;
White can cover b2 with Rb1; column h is open, and c4 will be difficult to defend; Black cannot crash through and endings will favor White

Repertoire for White against Sicilian Dragon

We will present a repertoire to face the Sicilian Dragon with White. This is based on an early O-O-O instead of 9 Bc4

 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 g6 6. Be3 Bg7 7. f3 O-O 8. Qd2 Nc6 9. O-O-O !?

here's the key position

Black has 2 ways to play :

9..Nxd4 followed by Be6 and attacking on the queen-side
early d6-d5 -since White did not play Bc4-