CVO_148.pdf

openings

148 | November 2 n 2011

what’s hot and what’s not?

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9R+-WQ-TRK+0

9ZPL+N+PZPP0

9-+PVLPSN-+0

9+P+-+-+-0

9-+-ZP-+-+0

9+-SNLZPN+-0

9PZPQ+-ZPPZP0

9TR-VL-+RMK-0

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The Benoni labyrinth

By IM Merijn van Delft and IM Robert Ris

After the Botvinnik Memorial in September, Vishy Anand

also won the Corsica Masters knockout tournament. This

was a rapid/blitz event preceded by a 9-round classical

qualifying tournament won by Krishnan Sasikiran. We also

take a look at the Chinese League.

Frequency

what’s hot?

Score

The World Champion's opening play has not always been very

convincing of late, as he seems to be saving everything up for the

next World Championship title match. In Corsica his opening play was

also uneven, but his opening choices were at least entertaining. In the

quarterfinals Anand beat Grigoryan with a 4.£c2 Anti-Noteboom line

and then held a draw with Black in the Catalan after some suffering.

In the semifinals it took four games and some scary moments to beat

his fellow countryman Sasikiran. In the first game 5.£b3 versus the

Queen's Indian brought an uneventful draw. In the Game of the Week

Sasikiran was incredibly close to eliminating the World Champion. In the

diagram position White went for 11.e4. In the third game Anand was the

fourth player to enter the very complicated Benoni against Sasikiran in

Corsica (see below). In a must-win situation Sasikiran blocked 3.¥b5+

in the Sicilian with 3...¤d7, but to no avail (see below).

In the final Anand finally got up to full speed, beating Mamedyarov 2-0.

Below we take a look at Anand's 3.f3 versus the Grünfeld and the QGD

game can be found in the PGN.

Source: Megabase + TWIC, 2500+ only

Can we conclude that Anand's openings in Corsica won't appear in the World Championship match? With Black the Benoni is not very

likely anyway, but is he not going to play the Semi-Slav (that served him well against Kramnik) and the QGD (that served him well

against Topalov) either? With White, instead of early deviations like 5.£b3 against the Queen's Indian

and 3.f3 against the Grünfeld, we're more likely to see the main lines that were not very hot this week.

what’s not?

1 of 4

openings what’s hot and what’s not?

148 | November 2 n 2011

The Anti-Meran according to Sasikiran

Sasikiran is one of the leading experts on the Anti-Meran and was well on his way to beating

his prominent fellow countryman. A very simple tactic on move 28 was all it took. Black has

homework to do in the Semi-Slav.

game of the week

Sasikiran - Anand

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9+LWQ-+PZPP0

9P+P+-SN-+0

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9-ZPQ+-ZPP+0

9+-TRR+-MK-0

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18...£a5

Anand is first to deviate from established

theory. In two earlier games Black didn ' t find

a satisfying spot for the £. 18...£e7 19.f3

¥b8 20.£f2 g6 21.¤e2 ¤d7 22.b3 (22.f4! is

probably the improvement Sasikiran had in

mind.) 22...bxa4 23.bxa4 c5 24.¤g3?! ¤e5

25.¥c4 ¤xc4 26.¦xc4 f5! and Black seized

the initiative in Sasikiran-Negi, New Delhi

2011. 18...£b8 19.b4 a5 20.bxa5 b4 21.¤e2

c5 22.f3 £a8 23.¥b5 clearly favoured White in

Akobian-Nyback, Wijk aan Zee 2010.

19.f4 ¥xc3

Black is forced to give up his ¥, since after

19...¥b8 20.e5 White gets a dangerous

initiative in the centre.

20.bxc3 £xa4?

Anand decides to steer the game into an

inferior endgame. More chances of survival

might have been offered by 20...c5 21.e5

£xa4 (21...g6 22.axb5 axb5 23.¦a1 £b6

24.¦db1 ¥c6 25.¥xb5! and White wins a

pawn.) 22.£xa4 bxa4 23.¦b1 ¥e4 24.exf6

¥xd3 25.¦xd3 c4 26.¦d4 ¦xe3 27.¦xc4 and

Black should be able to hold.

21.£xa4 bxa4 22.¦b1!

Exploiting the passively placed ¥ on b7. Black

is in serious trouble.

22...¦c7

After 22...¥a8 23.e5 ¤d5 24.¥d2 White also

retains a stable and clear advantage.

23.¥b6 ¦cc8

In case of 23...¦d7 24.e5 ¤d5 25.¥f5 the ¦ is

trapped, as 25...¦de7 can be met by 26.¥c5

Sasikiran,K (2689) - Anand,V (2817)

Corsica Masters (Bastia), 29.10.2011

D45 Semi-Slav, Anti-Meran

¦c7 27.¥d6±.

24.¥c5 ¥a8 25.¥xa6 ¦cd8

Black also fails to reach equality after

25...¤xe4 26.¥xc8 ¦xc8 27.¥b4 c5 28.¥a5

and Black has insufficient compensation for

the exchange.

26.¦xd8 ¦xd8 27.¦b4 ¤d7?

The World Champion commits a serious error.

He should have played 27...a3 though after

28.¦a4 a2 29.¦xa2 ¤xe4 30.¥b6 White ' s

advantage remains beyond doubt.

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9L+-TR-+K+0

9+-+N+PZPP0

9L+P+-+-+0

9+-VL-+-+-0

9PTR-+PZP-+0

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9-+-+-+P+0

9+-+-+-MK-0

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28.¥f2?

Sasikiran doesn ' t grab his chance with 28.¦d4!

when Black is lost, in view of the threat of

29.¥e7 winning material.

28...c5 29.¦xa4 ¥c6 30.¦a2 ¦a8

Black still has to be careful regaining the pawn,

as 30...¥xe4? can be met by 31.¦d2! when

the pin along the d-file is highly unpleasant for

Black.

31.¥c4

After the text move Black is out of danger.

White should have tried 31.e5 though after

31...g5! (not 31...¤b6? 32.¦d2!) 32.fxg5 ¤b6

33.¥xc5 ¤a4 34.¦xa4 ¥xa4 35.¥b7 White

doesn ' t have serious winning chances.

31...¦xa2 32.¥xa2 ¥xe4 33.¥b3 ¢f8 34.¥a4

¢e7 35.¥xd7 ¢xd7 36.¥xc5

White has won a pawn, but the opposite-

coloured ¥ ending is easily drawn.

36...h5 37.¢f2 f5 38.g3 ¢e6 39.¥f8 g6

40.c4 ¥c6 41.¢e3 ¥g2 42.h4 ¥e4 43.¢d4

¥g2 44.¢c5 ¥f1 45.¢b4 ¢d7 46.¢c5 ¢e6

47.¢b4 ¢d7 48.¢c5 ¢e6 ½–½

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

¤bd7 6.£c2 ¥d6 7.¥d3 0–0 8.0–0 dxc4

9.¥xc4 b5

9...a6 has taken over in popularity recently and

was played this week in Sasikiran-Fressinet

as well. We ' ve covered it several times in CVO.

10.¥d3 ¥b7 11.e4

The main alternative is 11.a3 which can in fact

also arise from several other variations of the

Semi-Slav. See CVO 123 for our last update.

11...e5 12.h3

A useful preparatory move. 12.¤e2? is

premature, because of 12...c5! as seen

in Tologontegin-Filippov, Tashkent 2009.

12.¥g5?! allows Black to play 12...exd4

13.¤xd4 ¥xh2+! 14.¢xh2 ¤g4+ 15.¢g3

£xg5 16.f4 £d8 17.¢xg4 ¤f6+ 18.¢g3 £xd4

19.e5 ¤h5+ 20.¢h2 g6³ Berczes-S.Ivanov

Stockholm 2010.

12...a6 13.dxe5 ¤xe5 14.¤xe5 ¥xe5 15.¥e3

¦e8

After 15...c5?! 16.¥xc5 ¦e8 17.¦ad1 £c7

18.¤d5 ¤xd5 19.exd5 g6 20.¥e2 ¦ad8 21.¥f3

a5 22.£c1² Black failed to solve his problems

in Sasikiran-Shirov, Lublin 2011.

16.¦fd1

In a recent top encounter it was shown that the

immediate central operation with 16.f4 ¥xc3

17.bxc3 can be answered by 17...c5! 18.e5 c4

19.¥f5 (19.¥e2 ¥e4 20.£c1 ¤d5 led to very

double-edged play in Sasikiran-Cuartas,

Khanty-Mansiysk 2010.) 19...g6 20.¦ad1 ¤d5

21.¥e4 ¤xe3 22.¦xd8 ¤xc2 23.¦xa8 ¥xa8

24.¥xc2 f6 and Black was absolutely fine in

Ponomariov-Shirov, Saratov 2011.

16...£c7 17.a4

After a harmless move like 17.¦ac1?! Black

can activate his light-squared ¥ with 17...c5!.

17...¦ac8 18.¦ac1

(diagram)

2 of 4

openings what’s hot and what’s not?

148 | November 2 n 2011

this week’s harvest

Sicilian, 3.¥b5+ ¤d7

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9TR-+-MK-+R0

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1.e4 c5 2.¤f3 d6 3.¥b5+ ¤d7 4.d4 ¤gf6 5.¤c3 cxd4 6.£xd4 e5 7.£d3 h6 8.¥e3 a6 9.¥c4

b5 10.¥b3 ¥e7 11.a4 b4 12.¤d5 ¥b7 13.¤d2 ¤xd5 14.¥xd5 ¥xd5 15.£xd5 0–0 16.¤c4 ¦c8

While 3...¥d7 and 3...¤c6 are common alternatives, 3...¤d7 is serious third option to play against the potentially

boring 3.¥b5+ line. Sasikiran has experience with all three of them and is generally doing well in each case. The

diagram position he reached against Anand is perfectly fine for Black, and even made it possible to play for a

win when White started slipping with 17.0–0?! whereas the prophylactic 17.£d3 was asking to be played. After

Sasikiran started to make some mistakes himself, the World Champion won the game and with it the match. In

the Open tournament on Corsica, Jones-Cheparinov saw 4...cxd4 5.£xd4 a6 6.¥xd7 ¥xd7 7.c4!? ¥g4!? 8.¤c3

e6 9.¥e3 ¤e7N 10.¤d2 ¤c6 11.£b6 £xb6 12.¥xb6 and even though the endgame should basically be fine for

Black, Jones eventually made the most of his space advantage. Black may opt for something like 12...¥h5 13.h3

g5!? grabbing some space himself. An important alternative for White seems to be 5.0–0, which was used by

Ivanchuk 20 years ago in Linares to beat Kasparov.

1.d4 ¤f6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 c5 4.d5 exd5 5.cxd5 d6 6.¤c3 g6 7.¥g2 ¥g7 8.¤f3 0–0 9.0–0

a6 10.a4 ¦e8 11.¤d2 ¤bd7 12.h3 ¦b8 13.¤c4 ¤e5 14.¤a3 ¤h5 15.e4 ¥d7 16.a5

In Corsica Sasikiran got involved in a theoretical discussion in the Fianchetto Variation of the Benoni and got

tested no less than four times! In the 1st game French IM Battaglini tried 16...b5 17.axb6 ¥b5 which leads to some

types of position where Black has pressure on the queenside reminiscent of the Volga Gambit. The Indian went

on to win, though Black's play can easily be improved upon with 24...¤d3! Therefore Sasikiran decided to deviate

with 21.£xb3 against Arnold, without much success, however, as the American missed the golden opportunity

25...¦a8! 16...£xa5 was covered in CVO 84, but undoubtedly Durarbeyli's and Anand's attempt will bring new

insights into these complex lines. In Michalik-Simacek, Kasparov's 15...¦f8 was tested, a move that was analyzed

deeply in Avrukh's book Grandmaster Repertoire 1.d4 Volume 2 . The Israeli GM doesn't mention 19...¤xg3, but

Houdini shows the refutation 23.¢h1!. Last but not least, in Gantner-Vuilleumier Black attempted to revive the

almost forgotten 15...f5 by introducing 23...¦f3!? The PGN-file guides you through the Benoni labyrinth.

Benoni, ianchetto

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9P+-ZP-+P+0

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9SN-SN-+-ZPP0

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9TR-VLQ+RMK-0

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Grünfeld, 3.f3

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9-VLP+-+P+0

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9+-+-+P+-0

9PZPQ+-+PZP0

9+K+R+LSNR0

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1.d4 ¤f6 2.c4 g6 3.f3 d5 4.cxd5 ¤xd5 5.e4 ¤b6 6.¤c3 ¥g7 7.¥e3 0–0 8.£d2 ¤c6

9.0–0–0 £d6 10.¢b1 ¦d8 11.¤b5 £d7 12.d5 ¤e5 13.£c2 c6 14.¤xa7 ¦xa7 15.¥xb6 ¦a8

In CVO 57 all the ins and outs of the thematic undermining move 9...f5 were examined. A popular alternative

is 9...£d6, with the idea of increasing the pressure on d4 by 10...¦d8. A clear drawback of the early £ sortie

is that the £ can easily come under attack from ¤b5. The immediate 10.¤b5 was neutralized by Black earlier

this year in Ivanchuk-Sutovsky. In Gustafsson-Mekhitarian White introduced the modest 10.¢b1, which in fact

contains more venom than you might expect. Mekhitarian comfortably equalized, though instead of 13.¤c3,

Anand's improvement might have been 13.dxc6, which leads to a slightly more pleasant endgame for White.

However, Grunfeld expert Mamedyarov went wrong with 12...¤e5 which can be met strongly by 13.£c2! After

13...c6 14.¤xa7! ¦xa7 15.¥xb6 one of the points of 12.¢b1 is revealed, as the ¦ is unable to take on a2, which

is possible in the line starting with 10.h4. In the diagram position Anand committed an inaccuracy by playing

16.¤e2, whereas 16.f4! ¤g4 17.¤f3 would have kept a firm grip on Black.

1.d4 ¤f6 2.c4 g6 3.¤c3 ¥g7 4.e4 d6 5.¤f3 0–0 6.¥e2 e5 7.0–0 exd4 8.¤xd4 ¦e8 9.f3

c6 10.¢h1 ¤h5 11.g4 ¤f6 12.¥f4 h5 13.g5 ¤h7 14.£d2 ¤d7 15.¦g1 ¤e5 16.¦ad1 a6

If Black could solve all his problems with 7...exd4 in the King's Indian main line life would be very easy. Of course

things aren't that simple, and Black has to play creatively not to be worse, but still this line has been enjoying

some popularity lately and can be a very interesting choice if it suits your style. With 9...c6!?, which Ding Liren

has played twice before this year, Black declares his dynamic intentions. In Dortmund this year Kramnik showed

in his game against Ponomariov why Black has problems in the most common 10...¤bd7 line. 10...¤h5!? is a

very provocative line, giving up two tempi and inviting White to push the pawns in front of his ¢. 14...¤d7! looks

more to the point than 14...¤a6 and was successfully tested earlier this year by Grischuk in a blindfold game

against Gelfand. This week Ding Liren tried it in a classical game against Zhou Jianchao, and while initially he

had decent counterplay, in the end he had to be happy with a draw. We believe that White's most convincing plan

must be to play for a kingside attack, as in the model game N.V.Pedersen-Bosboom, Dieren 2003.

King's Indian, 7...exd4

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3 of 4

openings what’s hot and what’s not?

148 | November 2 n 2011

it’s your move

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9-+-+-TRK+0

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9R+-ZP-+P+0

9+-+PZP-+N0

9PZP-+P+-+0

9+-+LVL-+P0

9PZP-WQN+P+0

9+KTR-+-+-0

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last week’s solutions

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9R+-WQ-TRK+0

9ZPPSN-ZPPVLP0

9-+P+-SNP+0

9+-+-+L+-0

9-+-ZP-VL-+0

9ZP-SN-+NZP-0

9-ZPPWQ-ZPLZP0

9TR-+-TR-MK-0

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Van Kampen-Tiviakov, Univé Open (Hoogeveen), 2011

Tiviakov has quite some experience with the 3...£xd6 Scandinavian, but that didn't prevent the young Dutchman

from claiming a comfortable edge with the typical 13.¥e5! This ¥ cannot be attacked by a black ¤ without

allowing the exchange of Black ’ s fianchettoed ¥. Even though Black is still relatively solid, he lacks counterplay

and White enjoys a nice space advantage. 13...£d7 14.¤a4 ¤a6 15.¦ad1 ¦ad8 16.b3 b5 17.¤b2 £c8 18.c4

bxc4 19.bxc4 After many adventures the game ended in a draw, but this position is definitely worth repeating

as White.

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9-+LWQ-TRNMK0

9TR-+-+-VLP0

9-ZP-ZP-SNP+0

9ZP-ZPPZPP+-0

9P+P+P+PZP0

9+-SNNVLP+-0

9-ZP-+L+R+0

9+-TRQ+-+K0

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Spraggett-Smirin, Casino de Barcelona, 2011

Usually it's Black attacking on the kingside, but in this particular system White aims to restrict Black's possibilities

on that side of the board. The following idea perfectly fits into this strategy and enables White to increase his

advantage. 20.exf5 The wrong move-order is 20.g5? ¤h5 21.exf5 and Black can recapture on f5 with 21...¥xf5.

20...gxf5 21.g5 ¤h5 22.f4! Exploiting the poor placement of the ¤ on h5. 22...exf4 23.¤xf4 ¤xf4 24.¥xf4

¥e5 25.£d2 ¦g7 26.¥h5! An excellent move, taking control of the e8 entry square. White will double ¦s on the

e-file, increasing the pressure on e5. White is much better. 26...¦e7 27.¦e2 ¥xf4 28.£xf4 ¦xe2 29.¤xe2 ¤e7

30.¦e1 ¤g6 31.¥xg6 hxg6 32.¤c3 ¦f7 33.¤b5 ¦e7 34.¦xe7 £xe7 35.¤xd6 £e1+ 36.¢g2 £e2+ 37.£f2

£g4+ 38.¢h2 ¥a6 39.b3 ¢g7 40.¤e8+ ¢f7 41.¤f6 £d1 42.£e3 £c2+ 43.¢h3 1–0

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! Why not subscribe

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