This Week's ChessBase Show

For fans of my ChessBase show (Monday at 9 p.m. ET), here's an early head's-up: Monday's game will be the 9th game of the 1934 world championship match between Alexander Alekhine (the champion, playing Black) and his two-time challenger Efim Bogoljubow. The game features a rather primitive sort of Benoni (in comparison with contemporary standards), but that very feature - its old-fashionedness - helps bring out some of the most important structural features of the opening.

There are interesting moments throughout the game, but I intend to spend a disproportionately large amount of time on the first seven moves: 1.d4 c5 2.d5 e5 3.e4 d6 4.f4 exf4 5.Bxf4 Qh4+ 6.g3 Qe7 7.Nc3 g5. To find out why and to see what I'll have to say, well...you'll just have to tune in!