CVO_169.pdf

openings

169 | March 28 n 2012

what’s hot and what’s not?

XIIIIIIIIY

9R+LWQK+-TR0

9+PZPPVLPZPP0

9P+N+-SN-+0

9+-+-ZP-+-0

9L+-+P+-+0

9+-+-+N+-0

9PZPPZP-ZPPZP0

9TRNVLQ+RMK-0

XIIIIIIIIY

Failing to play

in Adams style

By IM Merijn van Delft & IM Robert Ris

The European Championship in Plovdiv is as strong as

ever and is taking up all our attention. In this issue we

cover the irst six rounds, which left ten players sharing

irst place.

Frequency

what's hot?

Score

In our Game of the Week , Naiditsch-I.Sokolov, White scored another

win with his 6.d3 pet line in the Ruy Lopez (see diagram position), while

in Sjugirov-Azarov Black won after a long fight. Kryvoruchko-Zontakh is

a good white win and study material for the Jänisch Variation.

In Papp-S.Zhigalko Black showed an alternative way of playing in the

6.¥c4 Najdorf (see below). The 9.0-0-0 Dragon was seen twice this

week: in round four Black won in Savchenko-Jones, but in round six

White took revenge with 10.£e1 in Caruana-Mamedov. Jakovenko-

Kuljasevic was a very smooth white victory in the French Advance

Variation. A Caro-Kann novelty that we suggested three years ago in

CVO 12 was finally played in Hovhannisyan-Akopian (see below).

Matlakov-Berkes was a a model game for White against the QGD.

Rodshtein-Inarkiev was a good black win in the Slav (see below). In

Dreev-Ernst Black was doing very well against the Slow Slav, before he

lost track. Dreev-Lupulescu provides Nimzo study material (see PGN).

Rodshtein-Rasulov was another model game for White against the

Benoni (compare CVO 160). In Lupulescu-Alonso the Réti Gambit was

played, but White obviously wasn't familiar with our analysis in CVO 119.

Source: Megabase + TWIC, 2500+ only

Avoiding the Berlin Endgame wasn't a great success for White this week. Salgado-Pridorozhni saw the 4.d3 d6 we were wondering

about last week, and was eventually drawn. Popovic-Kryvoruchko and Michalik-Lysyj saw 4...¥c5 5.¥xc6 dxc6, but both white players

failed to play 'in Adams style' and eventually lost. Finally, Kobalia-Hovhannisyan saw Black equalizing

with the useful Marshall style novelty 4...¥c5 5.0-0 ¤d4 6.¤xd4 ¥xd4 7.¤d2 0-0!N (see PGN).

what’s not?

1 of 4

openings what’s hot and what’s not?

169 | March 28 n 2012

The best of both worlds

Is it possible to play a good opening and still avoid a lot of theory? With 6.d3 in the Ruy

Lopez, White stays in the realm of serious openings but is still able to create a game of his

own.

game of the week

Naiditsch - I.Sokolov

Naiditsch,A (2702) - Sokolov,I (2653)

European Ch (Plovdiv), 25.03.2012

C84, Ruy Lopez, 6.d3

16.¤xb5 axb5 17.¥xb5 doesn ' t seem to offer

Black sufficient compensation for the pawn.

15.£g4! ¤b6

15...¥xf1 16.¦xf1 ¤b6 17.¥xb6 (17.¥c2!? c5

18.b3 also comes into consideration as the

black knights are absolutely misplaced and

White retains perfect control.) 17...cxb6 18.b4

¤xc4 19.¤xc4 b5 20.£e6+ ¢h8 21.¤xd6

bxa4 22.¤f7+ ¦xf7 23.£xf7 clearly favors

White.

16.¥xb6 cxb6 17.¦fd1 ¢h8

17...£c7 can be answered strongly with

18.¤de4! ¥xe4 19.¤xe4 ¤xc4 20.¦ac1 b5

21.b3 and White obtains a huge advantage.

18.¤de4!

Forcing Black to exchange his light-squared

¥. There ' s no need to rush things with 18.b4?

because of 18...e4! 19.¦ac1 ¥xc3 20.¦xc3

¤xc4 21.¤xc4 b5 and Black ' s back in

business.

18...¥xe4

18...¥xc4 obviously loses to 19.b4!.

19.£xe4

XIIIIIIIIY

9R+-WQ-TR-MK0

9+P+-+-ZPP0

9PZP-ZP-VL-+0

9SN-+PZP-+-0

9L+P+Q+-+0

9+-SN-+-+P0

9PZP-+-ZPP+0

9TR-+R+-MK-0

XIIIIIIIIY

Finally the game has steered into quieter

waters. It seems as though Black has survived

the complications, but on the other hand his ¤

on a5 remains a source of trouble. In addition,

the presence of opposite-coloured ¥s

enables White to launch an offensive against

the black ¢.

19...g6 20.¥c2

Not, of course, 20.b4? in view of 20...¤xc4!

21.£xc4 b5 and Black stays in the game.

20...¥g7 21.¥d3 ¦f4 22.£e2 ¦d4 23.¤e4

The point of Black ' s previous move is that

White still can ' t pick up the ¤ with 23.b4?

since after 23...¤xc4! 24.¥xc4 ¦c8 Black

regains the piece.

23...b5

The alternative 23...¦c8 doesn ' t really help

Black either. For example 24.¦ac1 ¥h6 25.¦c3

b5 26.cxb5 ¦xc3 27.bxc3 ¦xd5 28.£g4 and

the lack of coordination among Black ' s forces

is evident.

24.cxb5 £b6

24...¦xd5? fails to 25.b4! and White wins.

25.¦ab1 axb5 26.¤g5 ¦xd5

Allowing White to open the kingside with a

powerful strike. The most stubborn attempt

for Black is 26...¤c4 though after 27.¤e6

¦xd5 28.£e4 £c6 29.b3 ¤b6 30.¦bc1 £d7

31.¤c7 ¦d4 32.£xb7 he also has no chance

whatsoever.

27.¥xg6! ¦xd1+ 28.¦xd1 hxg6

Ignoring the ¥ isn ' t an option either, e.g. 28...

d5 29.¥xh7 and soon the £ will join the attack

as well.

29.¦xd6!

XIIIIIIIIY

9R+-+-+-MK0

9+P+-+-VL-0

9-WQ-TR-+P+0

9SNP+-ZP-SN-0

9-+-+-+-+0

9+-+-+-+P0

9PZP-+QZPP+0

9+-+-+-MK-0

XIIIIIIIIY

29...£c7

The ¦ can ' t be taken as 29...£xd6 drops the £

after 30.¤f7+.

30.¦xg6 ¦a6 31.¦xa6 bxa6

31...£c1+ 32.¢h2 bxa6 (32...£xg5 33.¦xa5

is also hopeless.) 33.£h5+ ¢g8 34.£f7+ ¢h8

35.£e8+ ¥f8 36.£xf8#.

32.£h5+ ¢g8 33.£h7+ ¢f8

Black resigned at the same time, realizing

White will win the £ by means of 34.¤e6+. 1–0

1.e4 e5 2.¤f3 ¤c6 3.¥b5 a6 4.¥a4 ¤f6 5.0–0

¥e7 6.d3 d6

The most common continuation is 6...

b5 7.¥b3 d6 8.a4 ¥d7 which we covered

extensively in CVO 133 and 157, and in which

Naiditsch has an impressive record playing

as White. The text, however, is more flexible

and hence is better suited to fighting players

like Sokolov.

7.c4!?

Aiming to get a firm grip over the light squares.

Another option, and one more in the style of

the Ruy Lopez, is 7.c3.

7...0–0 8.h3 ¥e6

In the stem game of this line a computer failed

to find a proper plan for Black. After 8...¤d4?!

9.¤xd4 exd4 10.f4 c6 11.¤d2 £b6 12.¤f3

¤d7 13.£e1 a5 14.£f2 ¥f6 15.g4! White had

a powerful initiative on the kingside in Polgar-

Comp Junior on Alpha, Budapest 1996.

9.¤c3 ¤d7 10.¥e3 f5 11.exf5 ¥xf5 12.d4!

White wisely deviates from one of his earlier

games. After 12.¤d5 ¤f6 13.¤xe7+ ¤xe7

14.d4 e4 15.¤h2 d5 Black was doing fine in

Naiditsch-Markowski, Warsaw rapid 2011.

12...¥f6?!

Perhaps Black ' s best practical chance would

have been 12...exd4 13.¥xd4 ¤de5 14.¥xe5

¤xe5 15.£d5+ ¢h8 16.¤xe5 dxe5 and now:

a) 17.£xb7 ¦b8 followed by taking on b2.

b) 17.£xe5 ¥d6 gives Black excellent

compensation.

c) 17.¦ad1 £xd5 18.¤xd5 ¥d6 with

approximate equality.

13.d5 ¤a5

We ' ll soon see that the ¤ isn ' t ideally placed

on the rim. However, the other natural retreat

13...¤e7 also gives Black certain problems

after 14.g4! ¥g6 15.g5.

14.¤d2 ¥d3

14...¤xc4 15.¤xc4 (15.¥xd7? ¤xe3!) 15...b5

2 of 4

openings what’s hot and what’s not?

169 | March 28 n 2012

this week’s harvest

Sicilian, Najdorf, 6.¥c4

XIIIIIIIIY

9R+-+-TR-MK0

9+PWQ-+PZPP0

9P+-VL-+-+0

9+-+PZP-+Q0

9-+-+N+-+0

9+LZP-+-+-0

9PZP-+-+PZP0

9TR-VL-TR-MK-0

XIIIIIIIIY

1.e4 c5 2.¤f3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.¤xd4 ¤f6 5.¤c3 a6 6.¥c4 e6 7.¥b3 ¤bd7 8.f4 ¤c5 9.0–0 ¤cxe4

10.¤xe4 ¤xe4 11.f5 e5 12.£h5 d5 13.¦e1 £c7 14.c3 ¥d6 15.¤e6 ¥xe6 16.fxe6 0–0 17.exf7+ ¢h8

In CVO 81 we analysed Naiditsch-Mamedyarov, Dortmund 2010, which is quite a relevant game for the theory

of the 6.¥c4 Najdorf. We also mentioned the interesting alternative 13...£c7!?, which was given a try this week

in Papp-S.Zhigalko. In the diagram position White should have played the positional exchange sacrifice 18.¦xe4

dxe4 19.¢h1 when the position is about level. Instead, after 18.¥e3 ¤f6 White had some problems to solve,

which he eventually did. Black can deviate earlier with 14...¤f6 15.£e2 ¥d6, which is still very tense after

16.¥f4, but may in fact favour Black. Another fairly critical move sequence is 14.¥xd5 ¤f6 15.¥xf7 £xf7 16.¦xe5

¥e7 17.£e2 ¢f8 18.¥g5 ¥d7 19.¦e1 ¦e8 but even though White won in Bejtovic-Smeets, Sarajevo 2011, his

compensation for the piece seems questionable. 14.¤e6 ¥xe6 15.fxe6 £b6 16.¥e3 £xe6 is what Smeets had

in an earlier game against Dembo, Liverpool 2008, but that's also good for Black. Overall, 9.0–0 seems to be

undergoing a crisis.

Caro-Kann, 4...¥f5

XIIIIIIIIY

9R+-TR-+K+0

9ZPP+-+PZP-0

9-+P+P+-+0

9+-+-+-+-0

9-+-ZP-+-+0

9+-ZP-+-+-0

9P+P+-+-+0

9+K+-+-WQ-0

XIIIIIIIIY

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.¤c3 dxe4 4.¤xe4 ¥f5 5.¤g3 ¥g6 6.h4 h6 7.¤f3 ¤d7 8.h5 ¥h7 9.¥d3 ¥xd3 10.£xd3 e6

11.¥d2 ¤gf6 12.0–0–0 ¥e7 13.¤e4 ¤xe4 14.£xe4 ¤f6 15.£d3 0–0 16.g4 ¤xg4 17.¦hg1 ¤xf2 18.£e2 ¤xd1

19.¥xh6 ¥f6 20.¥xg7 ¥xg7 21.h6 £f6 22.£h2 £xf3 23.hxg7 £e3+ 24.¢b1 ¤c3+ 25.bxc3 £xg1+ 26.£xg1 ¦fd8

Three years ago, in CVO 12, we discussed a Leko-Topalov blindfold game in which Black was caught by

surprise by the 16.g4 pawn thrust and quickly lost. Around that time we conducted a joint analysis session

with GM Jan Gustafsson, where we examined the main line Caro-Kann and established that Black seems to

be able to get away with the risky 17...¤xf2. Apparently most people were reluctant to actually take the risk in

tournament practice, until this week in Hovhannisyan-Akopian Black finally went for it. The diagram position was

actually reached in our analysis back then as well, and is perfectly fine for Black - White has no more than a

perpetual. This result can be reached in a multitude of other ways as well, as can be seen from our lines in the

PGN file. Meanwhile, two correspondence games have also confirmed our verdict.

Slav, 6.¤e5

XIIIIIIIIY

9R+-+K+-TR0

9+PWQ-+-+P0

9P+P+L+-+0

9ZP-ZP-SN-ZP-0

9-+-+-ZP-+0

9+-+-SN-ZP-0

9-+-+PZPLZP0

9TR-+Q+RMK-0

XIIIIIIIIY

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.¤f3 ¤f6 4.¤c3 dxc4 5.a4 ¥f5 6.¤e5 ¤bd7 7.¤xc4 £c7 8.g3 e5 9.dxe5 ¤xe5 10.¥f4

¤fd7 11.¥g2 f6 12.0–0 g5 13.¥xe5 ¤xe5 14.¤e3 ¥e6 15.a5 a6 16.¤e4 ¥e7 17.b4 f5 18.¤c5 ¥xc5 19.bxc5 f4

Every now and then we pay some attention to the sharp variations in the Slav with 6.¤e5. In earlier issues

we've conducted extensive analysis of the status of the solid 11...f6 as well as Morozevich's 11...g5. Since

Inarkiev managed to defeat the Israeli GM Rodshtein, one of Gelfand's seconds, in only 28 moves with Black,

the combination of both pawn moves deserves further investigation. One of the points is that the move 13.¤e3

doesn't make sense because of 13...¥e6 and White is forced to give up his pair of ¥s anyway. With 15.a5

Rodshtein deviated from established theory, whereas in two earlier games White opted for 15.£c2. It seems in

that case Black should play 15...0–0–0, as the black ¢ isn't safely placed on the kingside, which can be seen

from the game Li Chao-Hammer. However, Inarkiev didn't face any difficulties after White's novelty either, and

in the diagram position he seized the initiative with 19...f4! We can expect such an inspiring game to give an

enormous boost to this hybrid system.

QGA, 3.e3 e5

XIIIIIIIIY

9R+-+-+-TR0

9ZPP+-+P+P0

9L+-+-TR-+0

9+-ZPN+-+-0

9-+-SNKVL-+0

9+P+-+-+-0

9P+-+-ZPPZP0

9TR-+-+-MK-0

XIIIIIIIIY

1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.e3 e5 4.¥xc4 exd4 5.exd4 ¥d6 6.¤f3 ¤f6 7.£e2+ £e7 8.£xe7+ ¢xe7 9.0–0 ¥e6 10.¦e1 ¢d7 11.¤e5+

¥xe5 12.dxe5 ¥xc4 13.exf6 gxf6 14.¤c3 c5 15.¥f4 ¤c6 16.¦ed1+ ¢e6 17.b3 ¥a6 18.¦d6+ ¢f5 19.¤d5 ¤d4 20.¦xf6+ ¢e4

One of the most amusing games this week was the encounter between Vallejo and Nabaty, as within 25 moves

the black ¢ had completely crossed over the whole board. In CVO 63 I (RR) employed exactly the same line

myself with Black against GM Babula and drew comfortably, but I have to admit that during my preparation I

never considered Vallejo's move 7.£e2 as a serious threat to Black. After trading off the £s it's hard to imagine

White can count on anything, though on the other hand White's pieces are better developed and the black ¢

isn't ideally placed on e7. With 14.¤c3 the Spanish GM attempted to improve upon the game Cvitan-Stevic,

but instead of 14...c5? Black could have reacted better with the more natural 14...¤c6 when there's still a lot to

play for. After that mistake Black's ¢ was chased by White's minor pieces. In the diagram position it's your turn

to exploit the vulnerability of the exposed ¢ in the middle of the board.

3 of 4

openings what’s hot and what’s not?

169 | March 28 n 2012

it’s your move

XIIIIIIIIY

9R+L+KVL-TR0

9+PWQN+P+P0

9P+-+-ZP-+0

9+-+-ZPPVL-0

9-+L+-+Q+0

9+-+-+-+-0

9PZPP+-ZP-ZP0

9+K+R+-+R0

XIIIIIIIIY

9R+L+QTRK+0

9ZPPZP-+-VLP0

9-+-ZP-SN-+0

9+-+P+-+-0

9-SNPVL-ZP-SN0

9+-SN-+-+P0

9PZP-WQLZP-+0

9TR-+-MK-+R0

XIIIIIIIIY

last week’s solutions

XIIIIIIIIY

9R+-WQ-TRK+0

9+LZPNVLPZPP0

9PZP-ZP-SN-+0

9+-+-ZP-+-0

9P+LZPP+-+0

9+-+-+NSN-0

9-ZPP+-ZPPZP0

9TR-VLQTR-MK-0

XIIIIIIIIY

Svidler-Mchedlishvili, Bundesliga (Bremen), 2012

A fairly well-known position from the Philidor Opening. Black has recently found an immediate equalizer.

10...¤xe4! Another playable continuation is 10...exd4. 11.¤xe4 d5 12.¥xd5 12.¤xe5 ¤xe5 13.dxe5 was seen

in Sebag-Yudin, Moscow 2010 and now 13...dxc4 seems absolutely fine for Black. 12.¥b3 dxe4 13.¤xe5 ¤xe5

14.dxe5 could hardly offer White anything in Kulaots-Kadric, Zadar 2011. 12...¥xd5 13.dxe5 ¤xe5! 14.¤xe5

¥xe4 15.£xd8 15.£g4 f5 was unproblematic for Black in Pancevski-Rusev, Sunny Beach 2011. 15...¦axd8

16.¥f4 f5 17.¤c6 ¥xc6 18.¦xe7 ¦f7 19.¦xc7 ¦xc7 20.¥xc7 ¦d2 21.¦c1 ¥e4 22.¥xb6 ¥xc2 23.a5 ¦d1+

24.¦xd1 ½–½

XIIIIIIIIY

9RSNL+-TRK+0

9ZPP+-ZPPVLP0

9-+-+-SNP+0

9+-WQ-+-+-0

9-+N+-VL-+0

9+-SN-ZP-+-0

9PZPQ+LZPPZP0

9TR-+-MK-+R0

XIIIIIIIIY

Kopylov-Van Delft, 2. Bundesliga (Hamburg), 2012

Black seizes the opportunity and grabs the bishop pair with 11...¤h5! 11...b5 leads to a mess after 12.b4! £xb4

13.¦b1. 12.¥xh5 12.¥g3 ¤xg3 13.hxg3 ¥e6 is also clearly better for Black as there are no attacking chances

along the h-file. 12...£xh5 13.0–0 ¤c6 14.¦ac1 ¥e6 15.¤e4 Here Black can keep tremendous pressure with

15...¦ac8! In the game I played 15...£f5 16.¤g5 £xc2 17.¦xc2 ¥xc4 (17...¥d5! Zherebukh) 18.¦xc4 ¥xb2

19.¦b1 ¥g7 which is only slightly better for Black. The game was drawn after 113 moves and many adventures.

½–½

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

for € 28 a year (that’s less than € 0.60 per issue!). More info can be found at ChessVibes.com/openings .

electronic format, or in any form whatsoever), as well as posting on the web, is strictly prohibited without prior written permission.

4 of 4

4 of 3

Plik z chomika:

Inne pliki z tego folderu:

Inne foldery tego chomika: