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Italian Game: Giuoco Piano, 6.e5

Vachier-Lagrave–Eljanov, Corus B 2007 · Aronian–Ding, London Classic 2019 · 5:01 · ECO C53

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In this video

Game 1: Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (2573) vs Pavel Eljanov (2675)

Corus B 2007, 26 January 2007 · Black won (0-1) · 29 moves

Click a move to jump the video to it. Dotted moves are the opening line the video is about.

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Key moments

  1. 7.Bb5The first move after the opening line0:32
  2. 27.b3The evaluation moves from −1.61 to −5.63, and Black stays more than two pawns ahead from here2:04
  3. 29...Nd6Black wins after 29 moves2:16

Evaluation

Above the line, White is better; below it, Black. Scores are in pawns, capped at five either way.

Game 2: Levon Aronian (2775) vs Ding Liren (2801)

London Classic 2019, 4 December 2019 · White won (1-0) · 32 moves

Click a move to jump the video to it. Dotted moves are the opening line the video is about.

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Key moments

  1. 7.Be2The first move after the opening line2:48
  2. 24...Rxe5The evaluation moves from +0.58 to +1.964:08
  3. 26...Re8The evaluation moves from +1.89 to +5.02, and White stays more than two pawns ahead from here4:18
  4. 32...Qe4The evaluation moves from +5.34 to mate in 5 for White4:48
  5. 32...Qe4White wins after 32 moves4:48

Evaluation

Above the line, White is better; below it, Black. Scores are in pawns, capped at five either way.

About these games

After 4.c3 Nf6 5.d4 exd4, White plays 6.e5 to gain space and drive the f6 knight away. Black does not retreat but answers 6...d5, hitting the bishop on c4 and giving the knight a strong post on e4. When White later recaptures with cxd4, the result is a French-style centre: White pawns on d4 and e5 against Black's d5. White builds on that space, while Black tries to undermine it with ...c5 or ...f6.

Vachier-Lagrave–Eljanov went 7.Bb5 Ne4 8.cxd4 Bb6. Black brought the knight to b4 and struck with 11...c5 (−0.58), then won the e5 pawn with 14...Nxe5. White regained the pawn after 16...dxc4 (−0.17) and 17.Qxc4, but the open position favoured Black's pieces: −0.43 at 21...Nd6 and −1.61 at 26...Qxb6. Then 27.b3 dropped the score to −5.63. After 28...Nxc4 and 29...Nd6, Black won.

Aronian–Ding Liren went 7.Be2 Ne4 8.cxd4 Bb4+ 9.Bd2 Nxd2. Black broke with 11...f6 (+0.13), but after 12...fxe5 and 14.dxe5 White kept a pawn on e5. Unlike Game 1, White held that space and expanded with 15.f4, 19.g4 and 20.f5 (+0.67 at 21...Rae8). After 24...Rxe5 the score rose from +0.58 to +1.96, and after 26.Nd7 Re8 it reached +5.02. White won a piece with 29.Nxe5 and opened the g-file. After 32.Rg1 Qe4, the engine showed mate in 5 for White, and White won.

Chapters

  1. 0:00Introduction and the opening line
  2. 0:10Game 1: Vachier-Lagrave vs Eljanov, Corus B 2007
  3. 2:25Game 2: Aronian vs Ding, London Classic 2019

The opening line

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d4 exd4 6. e5 d5

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