CVO_132.pdf

No. 132, July 13, 2011

OPENINGS

WHAT'S HOT AND WHAT'S NOT?

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Attack and

counterattack

By IM Merijn van Delft & IM Robert Ris

Frequency

Last week we saw Giri become Dutch Champion with

one round to go. This week we check out the last

round of the Championship, while also taking a look

at the second half of the Greek and Turkish Team

Championships.

WHAT’S HOT?

Score

Navara-Rapport is an instructive model game for White in the main line

Ruy Lopez. A very serious alternative for Black in the Ruy Lopez remains

the Jänisch Variation, as we'll show below. Smeets-Ernst brought the score

for White in the Ruy Lopez Exchange Variation at the Dutch Championship

to 3-0 (see PGN).

Kritz-Zubarev shows that the Paulsen with ¥c5-e7 is becoming hot again,

since Black is able to exchange the strong ¥d3. Savchenko-Gurevich saw

both sides going all out for the attack in a French Steinitz Variation, with

Black quicker in the end. 9.£b3!? played in Nijboer-L'Ami (Caro-Kann

Advance) is a new move recently introduced in Shomoev-Maletin, Barnaul

2011. D.Mastrovasilis-Ivanchuk was a real coffeehouse game in the Pirc.

Kasimdzhanov was in great shape in the Turkish League, playing 1.d4

with White and the Grünfeld with Black. Our Game of the Week , Navara-

Ivanchuk, saw an exciting battle in the QGD. In the diagram position

Ivanchuk went for 11...a6. Giri-Spoelman (see PGN) showed that Black

currently has problems after 9...a6 in the Anti-Meran, therefore Nielsen-

Atalik (see below) is a welcome alternative.

Source: Megabase + TWIC, 2500+ only

In CVO 131 we suggested that the Advance Variation seems to be the only really critical try at the moment against the Caro-Kann. While

that may be true from a theoretical perspective, Black suffered this week in the traditional main line. Volokitin-Jojua was a model win in the

bishop ending (illustrating the strength of White's pawn on h5) and Safarli-Kovchan was a

model attack against Black's king (another advantage of the pawn on h5).

WHAT'S NOT?

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

No. 132, July 13, 2011

The classical Queen's Gambit

The following game between super grandmasters Navara and Ivanchuk perfectly illustrates

how Black should develop his counterplay in the classical Queen’s Gambit. White only got

the upper hand after after a miscalculation.

GAME OF THE WEEK

An interesting sacrifice, which objectively leads

to a draw. However, it was hard for Black to

find a way to improve his attacking possibilities.

24.¤xf5

24.¢xg2 ¥xh3+ 25.¢h2 ¥xf1 26.¦xf1 f5 favors

Black, since the white ¤s don ’ t have clear

targets.

24...£xf5 25.¢xg2 ¦e6?

Either Ivanchuk became too optimistic or he

simply overlooked the following manoeuver by

Navara. He should instead have settled for a

draw with 25...£g6+! 26.¢h2 ¦h5 27.¦g1 (27.

f3 £f5 28.¢g2 ¦xh3 (28...£xh3+?! 29.¢f2 ¦g5

30.fxe4 ¦g2+ 31.¢e1 £g3+ 32.¢d1 is better

for White.) 29.¦c5 exf3+ 30.¦xf3 £g4+ 31.¢f2

¦h2+ 32.¢e1 ¦h1+ 33.¢e2 ¦h2+ and White

can ’ t avoid a draw with 34.¢d3? because of

34...¦xd2+ 35.¢xd2 £xf3–+) 27...£f5 28.¦g3

£xf2+ 29.¦g2 £f5 with a repetition of moves.

26.¦h1! ¦f6 27.¦h2!

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Navara comes up with an original defense. It was

no longer possible to defend f2 with 27.¦cf1?

in view of 27...¦g6+ 28.¢h2 £xh3+! 29.¢xh3

¦h5#.

27...£xf2+ 28.¢h1

Black has two pawns for the piece, but White ’ s

¢ is out of danger. Navara simply regroups his

forces after which the presence of White ’ s extra

¤ determines Black ’ s fate.

28...£f5 29.£b1 ¦e6 30.¦g1 a5 31.bxa5 ¦b5

32.£e1 ¦xa5 33.£g3 g6 34.¦f1 £g5 35.£b8+

¢g7 36.£xb7 ¦e7 37.£xc6 ¦xa2 38.h4! and

Black resigned, because 38...£xe3 is met by

39.£f6+ ¢f8 40.£h8#. 1–0

Navara,D (2722) - Ivanchuk,V (2768)

Greek Team Ch (Eretria), 07.07.2011

D43, Queen's Gambit, Exchange

Akureyri 1994) 16...¦c8 17.¥xg7 ¥xd3 18.¤xd3

¢xg7 19.¦b3 ¥d6 is unproblematic for Black,

since 20.b5?! is premature, in view of 20...

cxb5 21.axb5 a5! and White soon ended up in

a worse position after 22.£b2 b6 23.¤a4 ¦c4

24.¦a1 ¤e4 25.f3 ¤g3µ Gelfand-Ivanchuk,

Linares 1993.

12.¥f4

Navara ’ s move allows his opponent to simplify

the position. More challenging is the following

example: 12.¦ae1!? g6 13.¤e5 ¤h5 (13...¤e6

can be answered with 14.f4! ¤g7 15.g4!)

14.¥xe7 £xe7 15.£d2 f6 (15...¤g7 16.e4!)

16.¤g4 f5 17.¤e5 ¤d7 18.f4 ¤g3 19.¦f2 ¤xe5

20.fxe5 h5 21.¢h2 h4 22.¤e2 ¤xe2 23.£xe2

¢g7 24.¦g1 and White developed a devastating

attack on the kingside in Tkachiev-Maze,

Mulhouse 2011.

12...¤g6 13.¥h2 ¥d6 14.¥xd6 £xd6 15.¦ab1

In the only earlier game with this position, a draw

was agreed in Kozul-I.Sokolov, Bled 1991.

15...£e7

The right plan. White will launch his standard

minority attack on the queenside and hence

Black has to generate counterplay on the other

side of the board. Since the ¥ on c8 doesn ’ t

have a proper square at its disposal, Black first

seizes control of the valuable e4–square.

16.b4 ¤e4 17.¥xe4 dxe4 18.¤d2 ¥f5 19.¤e2

£e6 20.¤g3

20.g4?! ¥xg4 21.hxg4 £xg4+ 22.¤g3

unnecessarily complicates matters and allows

Black to force a draw at least with 22...¦ad8

(22...¦e6!? deserves attention as well.)

23.¤dxe4 ¤h4 24.f3 ¤xf3+ 25.¢g2 ¤h4+

26.¢h2 ¤f3+=.

20...¤h4 21.¢h2

Inviting the exchange of £s with 21.£b3? would

be a terrible mistake, in view of 21...¥xh3! and

as the ¥ is untouchable because of mate, White

just loses a pawn.

21...¦ad8 22.£b3 ¦d5 23.¦bc1 ¤xg2!

1.d4 ¤f6 2.c4 e6 3.¤f3 d5 4.¤c3 c6 5.¥g5

¤bd7 6.cxd5

Steering the game into the Exchange Variation

of the QGD. More principled is the Cambridge-

Springs Variation 6.e3 £a5 7.cxd5 which has

been extensively analyzed in CVO 88 and 109.

6...exd5 7.e3 ¥e7 8.¥d3 0–0

This specific move-order gives Black the

additional option of 8...¤e4!? The most recent

top game went 9.¥f4 ¤df6 10.£c2 ¥f5 11.¤e5

g6 12.f3 ¤d6 13.g4 ¥xd3 14.£xd3 h5 15.g5 ¤d7

with mutual chances in Fressinet-Ponomariov,

Khanty-Mansiysk 2010.

9.£c2 ¦e8 10.0–0 ¤f8 11.h3

The main move in this important tabiya of the

QGD Exchange Variation was once popularised

by Karpov. Other possibilities are 11.¦ab1 and

11.¦ae1.

11...a6!?

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This rarely seen move anticipates White's

possible minority attack on the queenside. More

common is 11...g6 which was employed by

Ivanchuk amongst others in the early nineties:

12.¦ab1 ¤e6 (12...a5 13.a3 ¤e6 14.¥h6

(Later it was established that 14.¥h4!? is more

challenging.) 14...¥d6 15.¦fe1 ¢h8! 16.e4

¥f4 17.¤e5 ¢g8 18.¥xf4 ¤xf4 with equality

in Akopian-Ivanchuk, Biel 1993.) 13.¥h6 ¤g7

14.b4 a6 15.a4 ¥f5 16.¤e5 (16.¥xg7 ¥xd3

17.£xd3 ¢xg7 18.b5 axb5 19.axb5 ¦a3 with

mutual

NAVARA - IVANCHUK

chances

in Van

Wely-Hjartarson,

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

No. 132, July 13, 2011

THIS WEEK'S HARVEST

Ruy Lopez, Jänisch

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1.e4 e5 2.¤f3 ¤c6 3.¥b5 f5 4.¤c3 fxe4 5.¤xe4 d5 6.¤xe5 dxe4 7.¤xc6 £g5 8.£e2 ¤f6 9.¤xa7+ ¥d7 10.¥xd7+ ¤xd7 11.f4

The Jänisch Variation has been keeping us very busy since we gave an update on it in CVO 129. In Nisipeanu-

Agamaliev the sharp 9.¤xa7 was tried and in the diagram position Black has to take an important decision

on where to put the £. 11...£c5, as played in the game, doesn't solve Black's problems, since he remains a

pawn down in the endgame. 11...£h4 and 11...£xf4 also don't seem to solve the problem. In his book 'The

Ruy Lopez Revisited' Sokolov analyses 11...£f5 and 11...£a5 which both still remain untried. White needs to

mentally prepare himself to play with a Steinitz ¢ stuck in the centre in these lines, but backed-up with some

good computer analysis White can play for a serious advantage. We also spent a few hours checking 5...¤f6

and now 6.£e2 d5 7.¤xf6 gxf6 8.d4 ¥g7 9.dxe5 0–0 10.e6 ¤e5 11.¥f4 £d6 and here the almost never played

12.£d2!?. Following 12...¥xe6 White can either play for a structural edge with 13.¥e2!?N or play aggressively

with something like 13.¤d4 ¥d7N 14.¥xd7 £xd7 15.0–0–0 ¦ae8 16.g4!?. In these lines White tries to make use

of the strong f5–square. More analysis and practical tests are needed to worry Black in the Jänisch!

King's Indian, 9.¤d2

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1.d4 ¤f6 2.c4 g6 3.¤c3 ¥g7 4.e4 d6 5.¤f3 0–0 6.¥e2 e5 7.0–0 ¤c6

8.d5 ¤e7 9.¤d2 a5 10.a3 ¤d7 11.¦b1 f5 12.b4 ¢h8 13.f3 axb4 14.axb4 c5

Kasimdzhanov and Mamedov continued their theoretical discussion in the KID with 9.¤d2. Last year the latter

obtained a comfortable game after 13.£c2 and equalized without any problems. Black's last move 14...c5 is

directed against White's queenside expansion, though it involves a serious strategic concession: the pawn on d6

becomes a permanent weakness. Kasimdzhanov's play in this game is exemplary: after 15.bxc5 ¤xc5 16.¤b3

b6 17.¤xc5 bxc5 White simply invades on the b-file with 18.£b3! followed by 19.£b6, when Black can hardly

avoid the exchange of £s. It's well-known that in the KID Black should strive for his own chances on the

kingside, which has become impossible now as the pawn on d6 has to be defended. Theoretically speaking, 14...

c5? is a strategic error and hence this novelty can't expect to get many followers. The recommended line starts

with 14...c6, undermining the centre and thus retaining flexible play on both wings. In the PGN-file you can find

some theoretically relevant games which illustrate the possibilities for both sides. Another valid option is 9...¤e8,

as popularized by Nakamura (CVO 34,54 and 91).

Slav, Anti-Meran

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1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.¤c3 ¤f6 4.e3 e6 5.¤f3 ¤bd7 6.¥d3 dxc4 7.¥xc4 b5 8.¥d3 ¥d6 9.0–0 0–0 10.£c2 ¥b7 11.a3 a5 12.e4 e5

13.dxe5 ¤xe5 14.¤xe5 ¥xe5 15.h3 b4 16.¤a4 ¥d4 17.¦e1 c5 18.¥e3 ¦c8 19.¥xd4 cxd4 20.£d2 bxa3 21.¦xa3 ¦e8

Has Black solved his theoretical problems in the Anti-Meran for the moment? You would expect strong opening

play from PH Nielsen, though on the other hand as one of the World Champion's seconds he may not be

allowed to reveal the best lines. Anyway, Atalik, a strong theoretician himself, went for 15...b4!? in one of the

most important positions of the Semi-Slav, just as Shirov had done recently. In Grandelius-Shirov, Malmo 2011,

16.axb4 axb4 17.¦xa8 £xa8!? 18.¤e2 quickly ended in a draw, while Black seems to keep the position balanced

after 18.¤a4 as well. After 16.¤a4 ¥d4 17.¦e1 c5 18.¥e3 Atalik played a plausible novelty with 18...¦c8 and in

the diagram position Black seems to have developed quite a bit of piece activity to compensate for his potentially

weak pawns. Nielsen went for 22.f3?!, but this allowed Black to start a powerful attack with 22...¤h5, which

should have led to a quick victory. Only when his position was already lost did Nielsen show his best chess and

eventually draw the endgame.

Open Catalan

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1.d4 ¤f6 2.¤f3 d5 3.c4 e6 4.g3 ¥b4+ 5.¤bd2 dxc4 6.¥g2 b5 7.0–0 0–0 8.a4 c6 9.¤e1

In the game Papaioannou-Nielsen from the Greek League, White introduced an interesting new concept in a

side line of the Open Catalan. Whereas after 4...¥b4, 5.¥d2 is the main line, 5.¤d2 leads to a more double-

edged game. In the diagram position Caruana has twice employed 9.b3, without particular success and hence

Papaioannou's move breathes new life into an almost forgotten line. By playing 9.¤e1!? White opens the long

diagonal for the ¥ on g2 (threatening to destroy Black's pawn chain with 10.axb5) and simultaneously attempts

to transfer the ¤ to c2. After 9...¤d5 10.¤c2 Nielsen decided to exchange his ¥ on d2, not fearing the absence

of the main defender of his dark squares. Perhaps 12.¤a3 and 13.¤a3 are worth investigating, as after 17.¤a3?

Black solved all his problems with 17...c5! since the ¥ on a5 is absolutely misplaced. Objectively speaking, I (RR)

believe 9.¤e1 can't really change the evaluation of the line with 5.¤bd2, but at least it shows there's still enough

scope for imagination in the heavily analyzed Catalan.

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

No. 132, July 13, 2011

IT'S YOUR MOVE

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LAST WEEK'S SOLUTIONS

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Ragger-Papaioannou, Greek Team Champioship (Eretria) 2011

An old rule of thumb states: play on the side where you're stronger. That such rules have many exceptions is

shown by the following solution: 26.h4! After this powerful move Black is busted. 26...¤xh4 27.¦h3! A nasty

swinging ¦. White is taking over the kingside. 27...f3 27...¤g6 28.¦h5 wins a piece. 28.¦xh4 £e3+ 28...f2+

29.¦xf2 £xh4 30.¦xf7 ¥e3+ 31.¥f2 also wins. 29.¦f2 ¦c8 30.¤c6 £xe4 31.¦xh6 and White remains a piece up.

31...¥xc6 32.dxc6 ¦xc6 33.gxf3 £f4 34.¥d2 £d4 35.£b3 1–0

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Finokaliotis-Ris, Ikaria Open (Agios Kyrikos) 2011

The position is even from both a material and positional point of view. Black's main concern is how to develop his

£, as White threatens to activate his pieces with moves like ¦fd1, ¦ac1 and ¤d5 (potentially supported by ¥xb6).

13...¥xc3! The ¥ was no longer exerting that much pressure and thus eliminates the annoying ¤. 14.bxc3

¤e5! 15.¦fd1 15.h3 is never possible, because of 15...¤xf3+ 16.¥xf3 ¥xh3 and Black is a pawn up. 15...£c7³

The £ is perfectly placed here as it can ’ t come under attack from White ’ s forces. 16.¥h6? Now White ’ s position

immediately collapses. 16...£xc3 17.¥xf8 ¦xf8 18.¦dc1 £a3 19.¦c7 ¤xf3+ 20.¥xf3 ¥xf3 21.£c2 £b4 22.a3

£xe4 23.£xe4 ¥xe4 24.¦xe7 ¥c6 0–1

www.chessvibes.com/openings

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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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