A small twist in the opening can change the flow of the game.

The opening phase of the game has been a common focus of the Game of the Week series, but it is still exhilarating to find a fresh, deep idea in an opening that always makes me appreciate the research aspect of the game.

The majority of the games in this series have had some unique opening ideas in them. One of them outshines all others. The unexpected pawn sacrifice in a fairly well-known position that happened out-of-the-blue in the Van Foreest vs. Ganguly game could be, as Ray Robson put it, one of the most creative opening novelties to be played in recent years.

Obviously, crazy novelties as in the game mentioned above do not happen so often; however, sometimes, even a tiny twist on a typical opening with deep prep behind it could create a lively position that brings great joy for a spectator. This brings us to the Game of the Week…

Game of the Week is – Gelfand vs. Adams

Thank you for reading! If you enjoyed this article, please click the “Share” button, and if you find any noteworthy games that you think should appear on Game of the Week, please send us a message on Chess.com. Please note that Game of the Week will cover games played from Saturday to Saturday of each week, and any games played on Sunday will go to the next week. See you next Sunday! 

Contributors:

Grandmaster Vasif Durarbayli

Edited by Della Almind