Nova Daily - 7 January 2025

Hi!

Can you believe that the year is already a week old?

Today's game was cut short because my opponent hung his queen. It could have been an interesting English game otherwise.

I knew I didn't have enough time to write down my thoughts straight after the game because I'm a busy soul outside of chesscom too. But I do have something to show:

My Aftermath Analysis:

What can I take away from this game:

1. There is an idea with g3-g4 turning the bishop into a target. In this game it should have worked because black never had time to make use of the negative space that the push to g4 leaves behind. In this case I hadn't looked at it too much, presumably because I would have considered it to loosen up the position too much. However, it is a common idea, and it pays to be aware of this.

2. Against this setup specifically, with 3...Bc5 and 4...c6, there is an interesting line with 5.Nf3 in which white sacrifices a piece.

3. There are times at which it's useful to clarify the situation in the centre. 16.cxd5 would have been such an instance.