The basic chess principle of not moving the same piece twice in the opening has already become history. The game is becoming more dynamic every day, mostly thanks to the evolution of engine strength.

Every “weird-looking” move in the opening has some tactical justifications behind it, or objectively it does not equalize the position, but your opponent anticipates that you will not be able to figure out the best continuation in the game.

What are the options to proceed in this kind of situation?:

1. Decline the challenge and choose a simple line or a line that your opponent is probably not prepared for. This is the most common response because most players are scared of the engine’s prep.
2. Accept the challenge! This used to be the most common response in the recent past by strong players. There were many stories of strong players thinking for a long time and finding the refutation of the novelty. Nowadays, this could be done against bluffs; however, it has shortcomings and could backfire, which brings us to this week’s game.

Game of the Week XXXII: Sarana, Alexey-Paravyan, David

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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