World Champions & the Panov-Botvinnik Attack (II)

We will continue our study of the IQP in the Panov-Botvinnik attack. We had given the main ideas related to the IQP pawn structure in last week's article, so we will get right to business this time with the games.

The next game is a beautiful miniature by Mikhail Botvinnik. We figured that we cannot have an article on the Panov-Botvinnik without a game from either of the founders of the variation. In this game, Botvinnik comes up with threats continuously without giving enough breathing space for black.

The last game will be from none other than the expert in this opening, Anatoly Karpov. He has consistently played this opening at the top level for several years with extremely good results. In the next game, we can see a transformation in the pawn structure, but black beautifully manages to bring his ideas to life and outplay his opponent.

We hope these games have been helpful in making our readers familiar with the Isolated Queen Pawn structure.  As we had mentioned earlier, this pawn formation is one of the most vital ones and it will be helpful not just in the Panov-Botvinnik attack, but many other openings. Next week we will be working with the Kings Indian Bayonnet Attack.