CVO_116.pdf

No. 116, March 23, 2011

OPENINGS

WHAT’S HOT AND WHAT’S NOT?

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Brilliant

tactical ights

By IM Merijn van Delft & IM Robert Ris

Frequency

We cover rounds ive through eight of the special inal

edition of the Amber Blindfold and Rapid Tournament,

where Aronian is in the lead. More spectacular and

theoretically relevant chess was played in the German

Bundesliga.

WHAT’S HOT?

Score

In comparison to last week, White did much better against the Petroff.

Instead of 5.¤c3 White went for the main line and won in both Carlsen-

Kramnik and Ivanchuk-Gelfand. Black, on the other hand, hit back in the

Berlin Endgame in Gashimov-Aronian. Below we return to the Italian line

we examined in CVO 100 and have a look at the Modern Defence. Topalov-

Grischuk (Najdorf 6.f3 e5 7.¤b3), Karjakin-Anand (Najdorf 6.¥e3 e5 7.¤f3)

and Anand-Nakamura (French MacCutcheon) are recommended as study

material.

Shirov keeps amazing us with fantastic games, and even though most of

the world's top players are in Monaco, the Game of the Week was played

in the Bundesliga. In the diagram position Black went for 10...¦c8. Shirov-

Fridman was another brilliant tactical fight.

The ease with which Carlsen beat Kramnik with Black, and Aronian beat

Anand with White, both in the English Opening, is remarkable. Below we

have more on 1.c4 and on the Slav Exchange variation. In the PGN file you'll

find McShane-Nikolic, in which the related 1.g3 was played, and the only

game the tournament leader has so far lost: Aronian-Grischuk (Benoni).

Source: Megabase + TWIC, 2500+ only

Even though Shirov played a truly amazing game again, Black suffered in two other Semi-Slav games this week. In Erdos-Schenk it was

shown that the seemingly innocent Moscow Variation, usually described as a positional variation, can end in a tactical disaster for Black if

he doesn't watch out. In Babula-Hoffmann White took revenge for the defeat exactly a year

before, again in a very sharp Anti-Moscow. Maybe Black should focus on 13...a5 in this line.

WHAT’S NOT?

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

No. 116, March 23, 2011

More ire on board

He may not be playing in the last edition of the Amber tournament, but that hasn’t stopped

Shirov showing more Fire on Board . The following game is yet another amazing attacking

game by a true genius. The best defence, leading to a draw, was practically impossible to ind.

GAME OF THE WEEK

anything better than perpetual check.

22...f3!

22...¥xe4?! is inaccurate, in view of 23.f3 ¦c5

24.¦xd3 (24.fxe4? f3) 24...¦h5 25.£c2 and

White stays in the game.

23.¥e5?

The decisive mistake. White should have played

23.£xd3 though after 23...fxg2 (23...¥xe4?

24.£c3) 24.f3 £h1+ 25.¢f2 ¦cd8 26.¤d4

(26.£c3? ¦xd2+ 27.£xd2 ¦xf3+! 28.¢xf3 g1£+)

26...e5 Black remains on top.

23...¥xe4

23...fxg2?! 24.¥h2 is less clear.

24.¥g3 £h6!

Leaving h5 free for one of the ¦s.

25.¤d4

25.¤d6 can be met by 25...¦c5! 26.¤xe4 ¦h5

27.¥h4 ¦xh4 28.¤g3 ¦h2 with a devastating

attack.

25...¦c5 26.gxf3 ¦xf3!

Black could still have spoiled everything with

26...¦h5? in view of 27.¢g2!.

27.¦xd3

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27...¦xd3?!

Shirov ’ s move is sufficient, though quicker

would have been 27...£h1+! 28.¢xh1 ¦xg3+

29.¢h2 (29.¤f3 ¦h5#) 29...¦g2+ 30.¢h1 ¦h5+

31.¦h3 ¦xh3#.

28.f3 £e3+ 29.¥f2

29.¢g2 ¥xf3+ 30.¤xf3 £xf3+ with mate to

follow.

29...¦g5+ 30.¢f1 ¦xd1+ and White resigned,

because of 31.£xd1 ¥d3+ 32.¤e2 £xf3 which

is hopeless for White. 0–1

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17.g3 doesn't stop the march of the f-pawn: 17...

f4 18.gxf4 (18.exf4 ¥xf4!; 18.¤b5 ¥b8 19.gxf4

¦xf4!) 18...¥xf4! 19.exf4 ¦xf4 and Black retains

a powerful attack on the kingside.

17...¥xh2+! 18.¢xh2 £h4+ 19.¢g1 f4

Black has to play accurately, since 19...¦f6? is

met by 20.¦d8+ ¦xd8 21.¦xd8+ ¢f7 22.g3 £h3

23.¥f1 and White holds on.

20.¤b5

Taking control over f6. Alternatives aren ’ t better:

20.exf4 £xf4 21.¥f1 e3! 22.fxe3 £xe3+ 23.¢h2

¦f6 24.¦d8+ ¦xd8 25.¦xd8+ ¢f7 and Black wins.

20.¥f1 allows 20...¦f6! 21.¦d8+ ¦xd8 22.¦xd8+

¢f7 23.¤xe4 ¦h6 with a winning attack.

20...¤d3

Initially Shirov intended to play 20...fxe3 21.fxe3

£f2+ 22.¢h2 £h4+ but didn ’ t see anything

better than repeating moves.

21.¥xd3

21.¥f1? fails to 21...fxe3 22.fxe3 ¤f2! and Black

wins.

21...exd3 22.e4?

Closing the long diagonal, but allowing the

further advance of the f-pawn. 22.£xd3? is met

by 22...¥xg2! 23.¢xg2 f3+. Best seems 22.exf4!

¥xg2 (22...¦xf4 23.£xd3 ¥xg2 24.¢xg2 ¦g4+

25.£g3 is playable for White.) 23.¢xg2 £g4+

24.¢f1 (24.¢h1? ¦c5) 24...£h3+ 25.¢g1 ¦xf4

26.¦xd3 ¦g4+ 27.¦g3 ¦xg3+ 28.fxg3 £xg3+

29.¢h1 ¦f8 (29...¦c5? 30.¦d8+ ¢f7 31.£f1+

wins.) 30.£e4 £h3+ and Black doesn ’ t have

Chuchelov,V (2565) - Shirov, A (2749)

Bundesliga (Mülheim), 20.03.2011

D45, Semi-Slav, Anti-Meran

1.¤f3 d5 2.d4 ¤f6 3.c4 c6 4.¤c3 e6 5.e3

¤bd7 6.£c2 ¥d6 7.b3

The most solid approach. 7.g4 was

popularized by the black player back in the

day, while nowadays 7.¥d3 is the most popular

continuation (see CVO 113).

7...0–0 8.¥e2 b6 9.0–0 ¥b7 10.¥b2 ¦c8

Black has several other moves at his disposal,

of which 10...£e7 is the most common.

11.¦ad1

The thematic central push 11.e4 is a bit

premature, as after 11...¤xe4 12.¤xe4

dxe4 13.£xe4 ¤f6 14.£h4 c5 15.¦ad1 ¤e4

16.£h5 cxd4 17.¥xd4 £e7 18.¥d3 f5 Black

was absolutely fine in Caruana-Gustafsson,

Rogaska Slatina 2009.

11...c5

Another option is 11...£e7 12.¦fe1 (12.e4!?)

12...c5 13.cxd5 cxd4 14.¦xd4 ¤xd5 15.¤xd5

¥xd5 16.£b1 ¥c5 17.¦dd1 ¥b4 which was

perfectly fine for Black in Flores-Leko, Khanty-

Mansiysk 2010.

12.dxc5

12.cxd5 cxd4! 13.¦xd4 ¤xd5 is unproblematic

for Black.

12...¤xc5 13.£b1

In case of 13.¤b5 Black generates nice play by

13...¥b8 14.¤g5 ¤fe4 15.¤xe4 ¤xe4 16.¥d3 f5

with mutual chances.

13...£e7 14.¤g5

After 14.cxd5 ¤xd5 Black ’ s pieces coordinate

more harmoniously.

14...¤fe4

14...h6? fails tactically to 15.¤xd5! exd5

16.¥xf6.

15.¤gxe4 dxe4 16.¦d2 f5

Black needs to operate directly, as otherwise

he might end up in a strategically bad position,

as happened after 16...¥b8 17.¦fd1 £g5 18.g3

£f5 19.¥f1 ¤d3 20.¥g2± Kramnik-Caruana,

Moscow blitz 2010.

17.¦fd1

CHUCHELOV - SHIROV

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

No. 116, March 23, 2011

THIS WEEK’S HARVEST

Italian Game

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1.e4 e5 2.¤f3 ¤c6 3.¥c4 ¥c5 4.c3 ¤f6 5.b4 ¥b6 6.d3 d6 7.a4 a5 8.b5 ¤e7 9.¤bd2 ¤g6 10.0–0 0–0

11.¥b3 c6 12.¤c4 ¥c7 13.¦e1 ¦e8 14.¤e3 d5 15.£c2 h6 16.¥a3 ¥e6 17.c4 d4 18.¤f1 £d7 19.c5

In CVO 100 we examined a collection of Jobava games with 5.b4 in the Italian Game. This week in the Bundesliga

there were two very interesting encounters that nicely confirm the conclusions we drew a few months ago. In

Fressinet-L'Ami Black again played 7...a6 and had to suffer for 60 moves before he reached a draw. In Feygin-

Gustafsson, Black preferred the more natural 7...a5 and followed our CVO recommendation all the way up

to 13...¦e8. Now Feygin went for 14.¤e3, which seems to be a decent choice, but overall Black's position

remains the more attractive one. 16...¤f4!? is an interesting alternative that has been played successfully in

correspondence chess. The novelty 17.c4! was a surprising choice, but possibly the only way to keep the balance

(an old Dolmatov game continued with 17.¦ad1). Maybe the right follow-up for White would have been 18.¤f5.

In the diagram position it's showtime - have a look for yourself and then check the PGN file for Gustafsson's

marvellous handling of the position.

Caro-Kann/Modern

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1.d4 g6 2.e4 ¥g7 3.¤c3 c6 4.f4 d5 5.e5 ¤h6 6.¤f3 ¥g4 7.h3 ¥xf3 8.£xf3 f6 9.g4

fxe5 10.dxe5 ¦f8 11.£g3 £b6 12.¥d3 ¤a6 13.¥d2 ¤b4 14.0–0–0 0–0–0 15.¥e2

Vitiugov probably wanted to outplay his lower rated opponent with an offbeat system, but in the diagram position

he was brutally swept off the board by Kraemer in a further thirteen moves. All Black's pieces are misplaced

and his position is one big weakness. On closer examination of the variations, 6...¥g4? seems to be a serious

inaccuracy. The critical move order is 6...f6 with two main lines. Khalifman recommends 7.¥e3 ¥g4 8.¥e2 0–0

9.0–0 ¤d7 10.h3 ¥xf3 11.¥xf3 ¤f5 12.¥f2 fxe5 13.fxe5 e6 14.¤e2 £g5 15.c3 ¦f7 16.£c1 according to the game

Mastrovasilis-Svetushkin, Aghia Pelagia 2004, but here Black seems to be fine after exchanging queens and

doubling rooks. Good old Velimirovic won three games with the more straightforward 7.h3 ¤f5 8.g4 ¤g3 9.¦g1

but after 9...¤xf1 10.¦xf1 0–0 11.¥e3 Black should refrain from the static 11...e6? (Velimirovic-Drazic, Herceg

Novi 2001) and play the dynamic 11...£b6! with nice counterplay. Maybe Black is fine in these lines after all and

White should stick to the more positional approach 4.h3 d5 5.¤f3?

Slav, Exchange

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1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.¤c3 ¤f6 4.cxd5 cxd5 5.¥f4 ¤c6 6.e3 a6 7.¦c1

¥g4 8.f3 ¥c8 9.g4 g6 10.h4 h6 11.£d2 ¥g7 12.£h2 e6 13.¥c7

To be honest, I (RR) have never considered the Exchange Variation a threat to the Slav and so have always

declined to have a look at it. Indeed, various lines have extreme drawing tendencies, though others certainly

contain nasty pitfalls. Just a short glimpse at the diagram shows how completely wrong things can go for Black if

he doesn't know the accurate replies. Instead of Gashimov's 8...¥c8?!, the normal continuation is 8...¥d7. In my

encounter with co-editor Arne Moll I was unpleasantly surprised by his opening choice and hence had to invest a

huge amount of time in dealing with all the ins and outs. Without knowing it I avoided Kramnik's £ sacrifice, which

would have given him long term compensation had he gone for 15.b3!? My choice of 8...¦c8 seems playable as

well, though Arne immediately went for the harmless 9.£b3?! when Black is fine after 9...¤a5! In the Bundesliga

game Landa-Bacrot the latter got into serious trouble after misplaying the opening. The moves 16...¦c8 and

18...¦a8 are a clear sign that something has gone wrong for Black.

English, Four Knights

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1.c4 e5 2.¤c3 ¤f6 3.¤f3 ¤c6 4.g3 d5 5.cxd5 ¤xd5 6.¥g2 ¤b6 7.0–0 ¥e7 8.a3

0–0 9.b4 ¥e6 10.d3 a5 11.b5 ¤d4 12.¥b2 f6 13.¤xd4 exd4 14.¤b1 ¥d5 15.¤d2

The main line of the English Opening has been quite popular lately. In general, many lines arising from 1.d4 are

fine for Black and hence white players try to lure their opponents onto the wrong track by delaying the advance

of the d-pawn. To avoid all of these subtleties, Black's most principled reply is 1....e5. In his book The English

Opening 1 Marin analyses the main line with 10.¦b1, but in Monaco an interesting new idea was found by

Kramnik, who refrained from occupying b1 with the ¦. In the line with 10.d3 a5, he came up with 13.¤xd4 exd4

14.¤b1!? whereas other ¤ retreats haven't promised White anything so far. In the diagram position, Karjakin

initially chose 15...¥xg2, but after 16.¢xg2 £d5 17.¤f3 £xb5 18.¥xd4 White is clearly better as his major pieces

are able to exert pressure on the open files. Four rounds later Karjakin logically attempted to improve with 15...

c5, though he never fully equalised. Our investigations connected with 10...¤d4, mentioned in CVO 113, might

still be a more convenient solution to Black's queenside problems.

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

No. 116, March 23, 2011

IT'S YOUR MOVE

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LAST WEEK'S SOLUTIONS

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Gashimov-Nakamura, Amber Rapid (Monaco) 2011

The position is a mess and Black has to be very careful to prevent a quick loss. With the elegant ¢ move

17...¢c8! Nakamura managed to coordinate his forces and bring his ¢ to relative safety. 18.¤f3 After 18.£xa8??

¥b7 19.£xa7 £xd4 20.¦d1 ¤c6 the white £ is trapped. 18...¥b7 19.£f4 Now in the game Nakamura played

19...¦h7?! and came under pressure, even though he won in the end. 19...¥d5! 20.¦c1 ¥c4! followed by ¢b7

and developing the ¤ would have been a good follow-up, giving Black nice positional compensation for the

pawn.

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Matlakov-Belous, Russian Ch U-20 (St. Petersburg) 2011

The structure reminds us of a KID/Benoni hybrid. The most important difference is that now a pawn stands

on e5 instead of a ¤. This means the long diagonal is closed and that Black lacks counterplay through ...f5.

Hence, White is able to decide matters on the other side of the board. 17.b4! cxb4 17...b6 18.axb6 cxb4 19.¤a4

a5 20.¤b2 followed by 21.¤c4 is highly problematic for Black. 18.¤a4 ¤h5 19.¦fb1 b5? A horrible move,

accelerating the process. 19...£xa5? 20.¤b6 drops the £. 20.axb6 a5 21.b7 ¦b8 22.¥a6 £e8 23.¤b6 1–0

www.chessvibes.com/openings

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