---
title: Game of the Week II-Vidit,Santosh Gujrathi (2727) - Shankland,Sam (2708)
description: Suddenly, your opponent plays a line that he has never played before according to your preparation. What should you do?
image: https://image.lichess1.org/display?fmt=png&h=550&op=thumbnail&path=durarbayli:ublog:Q7lSsHJD:RlR6flF1.png&w=880&sig=11bfc3026103badb39dce25590fbdce358e7288a
---

**First, take a break for a moment before playing your mainline home prep. I would recommend spending at least 5 minutes trying to understand what is happening. There are a few likely scenarios:**

1. **Your competitor had deeply studied a new opening recently. Unfortunately, your game is the first to incorporate this new opening that will make the database.**
2. **Previously, your performance in that opening was poor, or your opponent found a “hole” that could be exploited, so they aim to use that against you without deep study.**
3. **Your opponent has seen a trendy idea that they want to employ as soon as possible before it becomes a piece of common knowledge.**

**The good news is that, most probably, your opponent is not well-aware of the subtle nuances of the position in all 3 cases. However, the first scenario is more dangerous compared to the other 2 cases. On the other hand, not having classical games with that opening under the belt makes the opponent vulnerable as well. The position in an over-the-board competitive game feels totally different than in prep!**

**Hopefully, you can figure out which category your opponent falls into. If not, then a well-known path to limit risk could be handy in all 3 cases:  Play a rare line that you’ve studied a bit and would likely be overlooked by your opponent.** 

**This brings us to the Game of the Week...**

**Also, please consider picking up a copy of my first book, [“2021 in 52 Games”.](https://www.amazon.com/2021-52-Games-Best-Chess/dp/B09QF2K4R4/ref=zg\_bsnr\_4406\_8?\_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=2PR5V234GMGXW8Z53H8X) Your purchase would support the continuation of this blog series. Thank you for your support!**

## **Game of the Week is- Vidit vs. Shankland**


https://lichess.org/study/HXBTu0YH/abwTBHNi
Thank you for reading! If you find any noteworthy games that you think should appear on **Game of the Week**, please send me a message on lichess.org.Please note that **Game of the Week** will cover games played from Saturday to Saturday of each week, and any games played on Sunday will go to the next week. See you next Sunday! Contributors: Grandmaster [Vasif Durarbayli](https://lichess.org/@/Durarbayli) Edited by [Della Almind](https://lichess.org/@/QueenDella)