page 1 of 46; games 1-25 of 1,126  Game   Result Moves Year Event/Locale Opening 1. Englisch vs J Noa   1-0 56 1887 DSB-05.Kongress E21 Nimzo-Indian, Three Knights 2. Rubinstein vs Bogoljubov 1-0 44 1920 Goteborg/Stockholm m (08) E21 Nimzo-Indian, Three Knights 3. Rubinstein vs Maroczy 1-0 35 1921 Lancashire E21 Nimzo-Indian, Three Knights 4. B Kostic vs Maroczy   ½-½ 56 1922 7, Teplitz-Schonau it GER E21 Nimzo-Indian, Three Knights 5. Rubinstein vs Maroczy 1-0 35 1922 London E21 Nimzo-Indian, Three Knights 6. S Y Harwich vs Lasker   ½-½ 23 1923 Helsingborg sim E21 Nimzo-Indian, Three Knights 7. Bogoljubov vs Nimzowitsch 1-0 38 1925 Breslau E21 Nimzo-Indian, Three Knights 8. Marshall vs Samisch 0-1 64 1925 Moscow E21 Nimzo-Indian, Three Knights 9. I Rabinovich vs Samisch   ½-½ 45 1925 International Tournament E21 Nimzo-Indian, Three Knights 10. Gilg vs Tarrasch   0-1 34 1926 Semmering E21 Nimzo-Indian, Three Knights 11. Euwe vs Alekhine   0-1 40 1926 NED m (02) E21 Nimzo-Indian, Three Knights 12. Rauzer vs I Rabinovich   1-0 34 1927 URS-ch05 E21 Nimzo-Indian, Three Knights 13. Samisch vs L Steiner   1-0 46 1928 It Cafe Koenig E21 Nimzo-Indian, Three Knights 14. Alekhine vs Fink / Branch   0-1 36 1929 San Francisco clock E21 Nimzo-Indian, Three Knights 15. Bogoljubov vs Nimzowitsch 0-1 50 1929 Karlsbad (Czech Republic) E21 Nimzo-Indian, Three Knights 16. H K Mattison vs E Canal   0-1 25 1929 Karlsbad E21 Nimzo-Indian, Three Knights 17. H K Mattison vs Nimzowitsch 0-1 23 1929 Karlsbad E21 Nimzo-Indian, Three Knights 18. J Van Den Bosch vs E Straat   1-0 22 1929 NED-ch E21 Nimzo-Indian, Three Knights 19. W Winter vs Capablanca 0-1 47 1929 Ramsgate E21 Nimzo-Indian, Three Knights 20. Bogoljubov vs M Monticelli 0-1 39 1930 San Remo (Italy) E21 Nimzo-Indian, Three Knights 21. Alatortsev vs Botvinnik   0-1 32 1930 Leningrad ch-city E21 Nimzo-Indian, Three Knights 22. Alatortsev vs Botvinnik 0-1 32 1930 Leningrad chc E21 Nimzo-Indian, Three Knights 23. Opocensky vs J Rejfir   0-1 61 1930 Mnichovo Hradiste E21 Nimzo-Indian, Three Knights 24. Alatortsev vs Lisitsin 0-1 31 1931 URS-ch07 E21 Nimzo-Indian, Three Knights 25. Alatortsev vs Chekhover   ½-½ 32 1932 Leningrad-ch E21 Nimzo-Indian, Three Knights  page 1 of 46; games 1-25 of 1,126    REFINE SEARCH:   White wins (1-0) | Black wins (0-1) | Draws (1/2-1/2)

Secrets of Opening Surprises

Oct-27-03    Benjamin Lau: Chris Ward and several other GMS christened this the Kasparov Variation since Kasparov used it to such great effect as white against his nemesis Karpov in their epic world championship matches. Dec-22-03    Benzol: The following game is an interesting one with this opening. L Aptekar vs O Sarapu, 1977 <Benjamin Lau> Ben, it seems strange that they don't list Kasparov as a major practitioner of this line. Did he transpose into other variations against Karpov? Dec-22-03    Benjamin Lau: It doesn't seem strange to me that he's not listed as a major practitioner. When Kasparov played Karpov for the world championship, Kasparov was still very young (he in fact was historically the youngest person to win the championship (22), beating out Tal's former record (23).) Kasparov's repertoire was still relatively unsophisticated and his opening preparation was not very good to put it mildly. In fact, he chose some suspect lines against Karpov, and was soon trailing 5-0 against him. Anyway, back to the point, Kasparov stopped playing the three knights variation after the championship. Although he did well against Karpov, it was mainly because, to put it bluntly, the Three Knights variation equalizes for black, and so Karpov did not study it in depth. It was simply not something he expected a world class opponent to employ. Why would anyone study an inferior variation for white? Kasparov knew that this trick would probably not work the next time, so he gradually switched over to the classical variation Qc2 among others. Still, he was the one that made this variation so famous, so some call it the Kasparov variation. To answer your second question, yes, it does tranpose sometimes, and that can make it tricky to play for black even though it should equalize under best play. Dec-22-03    Benzol: OK, so he used mainly in the first match but was the first major player to use it frequently (at least in 1984). Thanks. Dec-22-03    Benjamin Lau: I don't want to be nitpicky, but so that future people don't get confused, it was actually in 1985... :) Dec-22-03    Benzol: The first match did start in 1984 didn't it? Dec-22-03    Benjamin Lau: Ah, nevermind, I got confused. That's a good point. The match started in 1984 as you pointed out. The Nimzo Indian Three Knights variation was played mainly in the second match however. Good point. Aug-04-05    Eric6312: What's Blacks best reply? 3...d5 into the Ragozin or 3...b6 into the QI are two options that come to mind. Aug-04-05    Koster: < Eric6312: What's Blacks best reply?> Many playable moves, as usual in the Nimzo. I would play c5, aiming for the Huebner after 5. e3 Nc6 6. Bd3 Bxc3+ 7. bxc3 d6 but it's a matter of taste. Mar-22-06    PowerLifter1450: I don't think Kasparov ever used this version. He played 4. a3 so Black couldn't play Bb4. Sep-17-06    WTHarvey: Here are some puzzles from E21 miniatures: http://www.wtharvey.com/e21.html Jan-02-08    KingG: It seems to me that this line has been quite fashionable during that last year or so. Ponomariov in particular has used it quite a few times, but Topalov, Ivanchuk, Aronian, Grischuk, and Bacrot have all tried it as well. From what i can tell, only Bacrot has been playing it for a long time. In general the results have been quite favourable for White as well. For example: Aronian vs Ponomariov, 2007 Grischuk vs Gelfand, 2007 Ponomariov vs Judit Polgar, 2007 Bacrot vs M Roiz, 2007 Topalov also got a good position against Karpov, Topalov vs Karpov, 2007. I'm not very familar with the theory of this variation, so i'm not sure if new ideas have been found, or if some people just got tired of the 4.Qc2 line. Or maybe this is just an illusion, and the line has always been this popular?

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