CVO_097.pdf

No. 97, November 10, 2010

OPENINGS

WHAT’S HOT AND WHAT’S NOT?

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Good times for

Levon Aronian

By GM Sipke Ernst & IM Robert Ris

Frequency

Aronian crossed the 2800 barrier, and now he is

leading the Tal Memorial with 3 out of 4, which makes

him the virtual world's number 2. Naturally Aronian-

Kramnik is our Game of the Week. We also cover the

Corsica rapid event and the SPICE Cup.

WHAT’S HOT?

Score

The Breyer variation is becoming more and more popular amongst top

players. Mamedyarov's 16...d5 caught Shirov by surprise. The Azeri

sacrificed a pawn for piece activity and outplayed his opponent in the

middlegame. Almasi showed there is still a lot of play left in the Anti-

Marshall, as he gradually outplayed Onischuk. Mamedyarov was also the

winner of a strong rapid tournament in Corsica. Crucial was his win over

his countryman Radjabov, who was clearly better at one moment when

playing the white side of a Sicilian Scheveningen, but blundered.

If you also have problems facing the Grünfeld then it might be interesting to

check out Georg Meier's games. 5.g3 is non-theoretical and suits players

who aim for the smallest of advantages. If, on the other hand, you like crazy

complications, then we advise you to follow in the footsteps of Ding Liren-

Li Shilong. The Black player's novelty appears to be losing on the spot.

The Catalan continues to be a deadly weapon in the hands of Gelfand,

although Grischuk managed to escape with a draw. Aronian, with the

black pieces, drew Wang Hao while following his own line in which he beat

Jakovenko as White.

Source: Megabase + TWIC, 2500+ only

In the Queen's Gambit Accepted Black is suffering for the moment. Not many strong grandmasters play this opening anymore, and those

who do get beaten badly. We pay attention to Khairullin's 6.d5!?, which was succesful in

his game with Kharlov. See the trends for more information about that one. Also Caruana's

victory over Istratescu is in the PGN-file.

WHAT’S NOT?

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ChessVibes OPENINGS what’s hot and what’s not?

No. 97, November 10, 2010

Ragozin refreshed

Levon Aronian is currently the man to watch. His irst ever victory over Vladimir Kramnik in

the irst round of the Tal Memorial was an important step in his attempt to claim tournament

victory and take over the lead in the world ranking. Watch the spectacle below!

GAME OF THE WEEK

better with the idea of playing 26...d4 and

preventing White from posting his ¥ on e5.

26.¥e5 ¦a2 27.¤b3 ¥c2 28.¥xc2 ¦cxc2 29.

0–0 f6 30.¥d4 ¦a3 31.¤a1!

The ¤ is best off in the corner of the board.

31.¤c5?! b6 32.¤d7 b3 33.¤xb6 b2 34.¤xd5

¦a5 and Black retains serious winning chances.

31...¦d2

Presumably Kramnik was still playing for a

win, though the following forcing line leads

to a drawish position. 31...b3 32.¤xc2 bxc2

33.¥b2 ¦b3 34.¥c1 ¦xb5 35.¦e1 ¦b1 36.¢f1

b5 37.¢e2 b4 38.¢d2 b3=.

32.h3 ¦ad3 33.¢h2

Forced. After something like 33.g4? ¦d1 34.¦xd1

¦xd1+ 35.¢g2 ¦d3 the b-pawn advances, as

36.¢f1 b3 37.¢e2 fails to 37...¦xd4!.

33...¦a3?!

Although this move doesn ’ t spoil anything, it ’ s

hard to understand from a human point of view

why the ¦ retreats voluntarily. 33...b3? can be

met by 34.¦b1 while after 33...¦d1? 34.¦xd1

¦xd1 35.¤b3 White ’ s b-pawn will become

strong. However, 33...¢f7!? and 33...h5!?

deserve further investigation.

34.b6 h5 35.¦b1 ¦xf2 36.¤b3 ¦aa2 37.¦g1

¢h7 38.¤c5

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38...¦fd2??

A terrible blunder, though both players thought

White was winning already. However, the

following line would still have saved Black:

38...¦ad2! 39.¤xb7 b3 40.¤a5 b2 41.b7 ¦xg2+

42.¦xg2 ¦xg2+ 43.¢xg2 b1£ 44.¥a7 £c2+=.

39.¤xb7 b3 40.¤c5 b2 41.¦b1 1–0

Aronian, L (2801) - Kramnik, V (2791)

Tal Memorial (Moscow), 05.11.2010

D83, Ragozin

20...£xb5 where in both cases Black ’ s chances

seem preferable.

b) 18.£c3 ¦ac8 19.£a1 is less effective now,

because of 19...¥g4! 20.¥g3 (20.¤d4 ¦c3!!

21.¥e7 ¦fc8 22.¢d2 ¦c1 23.£xc1 ¦xc1

24.¢xc1 £d1+µ) 20...d4 (20...¥xf3 21.gxf3

d4! 22.¥h3 ¦c3 23.0–0) 21.¥e2 (21.¤xd4

¦c3) 21...¥xf3 22.gxf3 ¦fe8 and undoubtedly

Kramnik ’ s analysis only started here.

18...£xa3 19.¥e2 £b4+ 20.£xb4

After 20.£d2 ¦fc8 21.0–0 £xd2 22.¤xd2 ¦c2

23.¦d1 a4 not much can be done to prevent

Black from queening.

20...axb4 21.¤d4

21.0–0 ¦fc8 22.¤d4 would hardly have been

better in view of 22...¥c2!.

21...¦a1+ 22.¥d1

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22...¥h7?

Kramnik could have crowned his handling

of the opening with the powerful 22...¦fa8!

23.0–0 (23.¤xf5? b3! (23...¦xd1+? 24.¢xd1

¦a1+ 25.¢c2 ¦xh1 26.¥g3+-) 24.¤e7+ ¢f8

25.¤xd5 b2 26.¤c3 ¦c1 27.¢d2 g5! followed by

28...¦d8 and wins.) 23...¥d3 24.¦e1 ¦b1 25.f3

¦c8 26.¥e2 ¦xe1+ 27.¥xe1 ¥xe2 28.¤xe2 b3

29.¥c3 d4! 30.¥xd4 ¦c2 and Black is winning.

23.¤b3 ¦b1 24.¤d2 ¦b2 25.¥g3!

Suddenly it becomes clear White is able to

regroup his pieces.

25...¦c8

Both players agreed 25...¦e8 would have been

1.d4 ¤f6 2.c4 e6 3.¤c3 ¥b4 4.¤f3 d5 5.cxd5

exd5 6.¥g5 h6

To get a better impression of the current game,

one must be aware of the following game, where

Black refrains from playing ...h6: 6...0–0 7.e3 c5

8.dxc5 ¤bd7 9.¦c1 £a5 10.a3 ¥xc3+ 11.¦xc3

¤e4 12.b4 ¤xc3 13.£a1 £a4 14.£xc3 a5 15.b5

¤xc5 (For 15...b6 Bacrot-Korchnoi, Novi Sad

2009, see CVO 43.) 16.£xc5 ¥e6 17.£c1 ¦fc8

18.£a1! This strong manoeuvre kills the line.

18...£c2 19.¥e2 £c1+ 20.£xc1 ¦xc1+ 21.¥d1

¦a1 22.a4 ¦c8 23.¤d4 ¦c4 24.0–0 f6 25.¥f4 ¥f7

26.h4 1–0 Topalov-Carlsen, Wijk aan Zee 2007.

Another possibility is 6...¤bd7 7.e3 c5 8.dxc5!?

£a5 9.¦c1 ¤e4 10.£xd5 which is extensively

covered in CVO issue s 46, 82 and 84.

7.¥h4 c5

A speciality of GMs Aleksandrov and Dizdar.

Another option is 7...g5 8.¥g3 ¤e4 9.¤d2.

8.dxc5 ¤bd7 9.¦c1 £a5 10.a3 ¥xc3+ 11.¦xc3

¤e4 12.b4 ¤xc3 13.£a1 £a4

Recently, White obtained good compensation

for the exchange after 13...£a6 14.£xc3 £g6

15.e3 £b1+ 16.¢d2 0–0 17.¦g1! a5 18.¥c4 axb4

19.axb4 £e4 20.¥d3 £e6 21.¤d4² Delchev-

Palac, Khanty-Mansiysk 2010.

14.£xc3 0–0 15.e3 a5 16.b5 ¤xc5 17.£xc5

¥f5!

An important improvement over a recent rapid

game which continued with 17...¥e6 18.£d4

£xa3 19.¥e2 £c1+ 20.£d1 £b2 21.0–0 a4

22.¥g3 f6 23.¤d4 ¥f7 24.¥d3 a3 25.¤f5 a2

26.£g4 and White had a powerful attack in

Lahno-T.Kosintseva, Cap d ’ Agde 2010.

18.£d4?

With this move, Aronian steers the game into

an ending where White ’ s minor pieces can ’ t

compete with Black ’ s passer. Alternatives:

a) 18.£xd5? loses to 18...¦ac8 19.¥e2 ¦c1+

20.¥d1 ¥c2 21.¢e2 ¦c8 22.¦e1 ¦c5!; 18.¥e2

¦ac8 19.£d4 ¦c1+ 20.¥d1 and now Black has

the pleasant choice between 20...£xa3 and

ARONIAN - KRAMNIK

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ChessVibes OPENINGS what’s hot and what’s not?

No. 97, November 10, 2010

THIS WEEK’S HARVEST

Petroff, 5.¤c3

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1.e4 e5 2.¤f3 ¤f6 3.¤xe5 d6 4.¤f3 ¤xe4 5.¤c3 ¤xc3 6.dxc3 ¥e7 7.¥e3 0–0 8.£d2 ¤d7 9.0–0–0 ¦e8 10.h4 c6 11.¥d3 ¤f6

How often do you find two top–10 players hardly knowing what's going on in their game? Kramnik's last move

11...¤f6 is an attempt to improve on a game played earlier this year against Caruana, though it seems in that game

Black was closer to equality than in the present game. At first sight, the symmetrical position looks a bit dull, though

with opposite castled ¢s, and Nakamura handling the White pieces, extreme fireworks were soon seen on the

board. After the game Kramnik admitted he didn't like his position around move 20, though with opposite-coloured

¥s Black also had some chances on the long diagonal. Kramnik was fortunate to spot in time that his intended

21...£a5? would have failed to 22.¦xg6 and hence he came up with the interesting resource 21...c4. 11...£a5

12.¢b1 ¤e5 13.¤xe5 dxe5 14.£e2 ¥e6 15.¥c4 ¥xc4 16.£xc4 ¦ad8 17.h5 ¦xd1+ 18.¦xd1 ¦d8 soon led to a draw

in Caruana-Kramnik, Wijk aan Zee 2010. As Kramnik isn't eager to repeat it, the line might be more suspicious

than it looks at first sight.

Ruy Lopez, Breyer

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1.e4 e5 2.¤f3 ¤c6 3.¥b5 a6 4.¥a4 ¤f6 5.0–0 ¥e7 6.¦e1 b5 7.¥b3 d6 8.c3 0–0 9.h3 ¤b8

10.d4 ¤bd7 11.¤bd2 ¥b7 12.¥c2 ¦e8 13.¤f1 ¥f8 14.¤g3 g6 15.a4 ¥g7 16.¥d3 d5 17.¥g5 b4

Usually the Breyer has been favored by players who prefer to manoeuvre around with their pieces, accepting a

slightly passive position. However, Mamedyarov is one of those players who always gives his own interpretation

to openings. His contribution to the Breyer system can hardly be underestimated, taking into account his efforts

in e.g. the variation 15.b3 d5. This central breakthough generally aims to simplify the position, but in this particular

case after 17.¥g5 Black is forced to sacrifice a pawn. In return he obtained nice piece play and the pair of ¥s. His

central influence is immense and White therefore has no time at all to bring his extra pawn into play (similar to the

Volga gambit where White's queenside pawns are stuck). Another example of the Azeri's creativity could be seen

when his ¦ initiated a surprising switch to the kingside and the ¥ was transfered to a7 with devastating effect. It's

too early to draw a definite conclusion, though Mamedyarov is certainly eager to give the line another try, as long

as an antidote hasn't been found.

QGA, 6.d5

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1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.e3 e6 4.¥xc4 c5 5.¤f3 a6 6.d5 b5 7.¥b3 exd5 8.¥xd5 ¦a7 9.e4 ¤f6 10.¤c3 b4

In CVO 76 we pointed out the game Vitiugov-Rublevsky, Karpov Poikovsky 2010, in which White tried to profit from

an unusual move-order by Black with the move 6.d5!? Of course White can also play 6.0–0, when Black usually

plays 6...¤f6, entering the mainlines, but White has to take into account the sideline 6...b5. Although after this move

White seems to have good chances of an advantage, if you normally play the line with 6.dxc5 this can be awkward.

6.d5 seems to be a good way to fight for an advantage. Black can choose from several queenless middlegames

(6...¤f6, 7...¤f6 or 7...c4), but they are unpleasant due to the slightly damaged pawn structure. In the diagram

position Rublevsky chose 10...¤xd5, but his position was already much worse at move 15. It's possible to improve

on Rublevsky's play, but the positions seem to favour White in any case. Kharlov's novelty 10...b4 invites White to

enter the crazy complications following 11.¤a4+ (11.¤e2 promises nothing). Instead of 11...¥d7 we also had a look

at 11...¤bd7 and 11...¦d7. White is better in all cases.

Grünfeld, Exchange

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1.d4 ¤f6 2.¤f3 g6 3.c4 ¥g7 4.¤c3 d5 5.cxd5 ¤xd5 6.e4 ¤xc3 7.bxc3 c5 8.¦b1 0–0 9.¥e2 ¤c6

10.d5 ¥xc3+ 11.¥d2 ¥xd2+ 12.£xd2 ¤a5 13.h4 ¥g4 14.¤g5 ¥xe2 15.¢xe2 h6 16.h5 hxg5 17.hxg6 f6

The line after 9...¤c6 10.d5 ¥xc3+ leads to very sharp play. Black's king comes under attack, but he is a pawn up

and White's king isn't that safe either. Instead of 14.¤g5, White's most popular option is 14.h5 ¥xf3 15.gxf3, but

14.¤g5 can be very dangerous, especially if your opponent is unprepared. After 14...¥xe2 15.¢xe2, 15...h6 is more

or less forced, as the main alternative 15...e6 led to a crushing defeat in Avrukh-Sutovsky, Ashdod 2004. Now 16.

¤f3 was played earlier this year by Shulman against Kamsky, while 16.h5 is an attempt to checkmate Black on the

first attempt. The move was succesfull in the game Ding Liren-Li Shilong, where Black played 17...f6?. This move

is new, although not unnatural. Apparently it is too dangerous to keep the white g-pawn alive. In the game Black

was crushed, still we recommend to play not Ding Liren's 18.£d3 (18...£e8 seems to force a draw), but 18.£d1,

after which we see no defense. Black's play can be improved with 17...£d6 or 17...fxg6.

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ChessVibes OPENINGS what’s hot and what’s not?

No. 97, November 10, 2010

IT'S YOUR MOVE

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LAST WEEK'S SOLUTIONS

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Tiviakov - Vachier-Lagrave, Univé Chess Tournament (Hooveveen) 2010

White's last move 13.¤b3 is considered inaccurate by theory, whereas 13.¦e1! would have been the most

challenging for Black. Vachier-Lagrave comes up with an instructive plan 13...¥xc3! 14.bxc3 e5! With a ¥ on

g7 this move wouldn ’t have made sense at all. Black doesn ’ t have to fear the presence of opposite-coloured

¥s, since the ¥ on g3 is doomed to passivity for the rest of the game. The attempt to revive the ¥ on move 21 is

strongly punished by the Frenchman. 15.c4 ¤c6 16.£d3 £e7 17.¦fd1 ¥e6 18.£xd6 ¦d8 19.£c5 f6 20.¦xd8+

£xd8 21.f3 gxf3 22.gxf3 ¢f7! The ¢ feels very safe here, while he directs his forces to the h-file. See the PGN

file for the rest of the game.

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Giri-Shirov, Univé Chess Tournament (Hooveveen) 2010

Shirov's 21...c5? got him into serious trouble. On move 24, Giri missed his chance to reach a winning position.

Instead he settled for a slightly better endgame with 24.£xe4 ¤xe4 25.¥xb4 . But after 24.£d8+! ¤e8 25.£e7

h6 26.¤b6 (Not 26.£f8+? ¢h7 27.£xf7 ¦d8 with counterplay.) 26...¤d6 27.¥xd6 (27.¤xa8 ¥h2+ 28.¢xh2 £xe7

29.¥xd6) 27...£d4 28.¥xe5 £xd1+ 29.¢h2 White is winning.

www.chessvibes.com/openings

ChessVibes Openings is a weekly PDF magazine that covers the latest news on chess openings. Which openings are hot in top level chess?

Which are not? Editors IM Merijn van Delft & IM Robert Ris keep you updated once a week! Single issues cost € 1. You can also subscribe :

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