CVO_151.pdf

openings

151 | November 23 n 2011

what’s hot and what’s not?

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Fighting chess

from Moscow

By IM Robert Ris

The strongest tournament of the year has started in

Moscow. The Tal Memorial is at the halfway stage and

four players are in the lead. Hou Yifan has a comfortable

+2 advantage over Humpy Koneru. The Bundesliga didn't

produce any special theoretical developments this week.

Frequency

what ' s hot?

Score

Carlsen won a spectacular game against Gelfand in the normally solid

Slow Slav, which is extensively covered on the next page. In his two other

black games Gelfand was more successful. Against Nakamura he drew

comfortably, while against Svidler he employed the strong novelty 12...

c5! to gain the upper hand, but had to settle for a draw in the end as well.

So far Kramnik hasn't shown his best chess, but he caught Ivanchuk

in his Chebanenko Slav with the rather unexplored 7.£c2 (see below).

Nakamura-Aronian led to interesting play from a QGD Exchange

Variation, which objectively seemed fine for Black (see below).

The Grünfeld is doing pretty well for Black. Nepomniachtchi drew two

good games with Anand and Gelfand. Svidler lost unnecessarily against

Ivanchuk in a side-line (4.e3 & 5.£b3) but won a sharp game against

Nakamura in the 7.¥c4 line (see below). In Ivanchuk-Carlsen White

failed to get anything tangible in a rarely seen line of the ¥f4 system.

The Sicilian Kan is a force to reckon with. The system with 5...¤f6 6.

0-0 e5!? has been employed quite successfully this year and this week

Svidler comfortably drew with Karjakin (see below). Despite being two

points behind in the match, Koneru's Black repertoire against 1.e4 e5

is serving her well. This week she switched to the Open Ruy Lopez and

managed to hold quite easily.

Playing against the Sicilian requires a concrete and sharp approach. Since Black is doing fine strategically (thanks to his extra central

pawn), a tame approach usually works out badly. In Karjakin-Nakamura and Nepomniachtchi-Ivanchuk Black had a rather easy

game. As an exercise we give you Nepomniachtchi-Nakamura.

what’s not?

1 of 4

openings what’s hot and what’s not?

151 | November 23 n 2011

Accelerating the Slow Slav

The Slow Slav (4.e3) is usually aimed at avoiding the sharp variations the opening is full

of, but as Carlsen and Gelfand demonstrate play can become hyper-sharp. In this case it

produced a highly entertaining game that was also full of mistakes.

game of the week

Carlsen - Gelfand

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29.¢xf1 ¤d7 30.¦f3 ¤e5 31.¦f4 ¢xb7 and a

draw seems to be the most logical outcome.

27.£d3?

Carlsen doesn ' t profit from Black ' s last move.

The engines point out that White can obtain a

huge advantage after 27.£b5! £xb7 28.£e8+

¤c8 (28...£c8 29.£xc8+ ¤xc8 30.¦xf7 and

White ' s winning.) 29.¥c4!.

27...¥c7

Black could now still have tried 27...¥xg3+

28.¦xg3 ¦af1+ when a transposition to

26...¥xg3 is most likely, as 29.¢e2 ¢xb7

seems OK for Black.

28.¤e4 ¦af1+ 29.¢e2 ¦xf3 30.gxf3 f5

Picking up the pawn with 30...¢xb7 is pretty

dangerous, in view of 31.£b5!.

31.gxf6 gxf6 32.¥xf6 £h7 33.£b5 ¦g2+

33...£h2+ doesn ' t lead anywhere, since the

white ¢ is quite safely placed after 34.¢d3.

34.¢d3 £d7+ 35.£xd7 ¤xd7 36.¥d5 ¥e5

37.f4?!

More precise would have been 37.¥xe5+!

¤xe5+ 38.¢d4 ¤d7 (38...¤xf3+ 39.¢c3 ¤e1

40.¤c5 ¦c2+ 41.¢d4 ¦xc5 42.¢xc5 ¢c7

43.e4 and White wins.) 39.¥c6 ¤b6 40.¤c5

and White wins due to the threat of 41.¤a6.

37...¥c7?

This move brings the game to an abrupt end.

Black ' s last chance to stay in the game was

37...¥xf6 though after 38.¤xf6 ¤c5+ 39.¢d4

¦c2 40.b4 ¤xb7 41.¤d7+ ¢c7 42.¤f8! White

picks up the pawn on g6, retaining serious

winning chances.

38.¥c6! 1–0

Carlsen,M (2826)-Gelfand,B (2744)

Tal Memorial (Moscow), 17.11.2011

D12 Slow Slav (4.e3)

14.¥d2 0–0–0

There ' s no need for 14...exd4?! 15.exd4 0–0–0

16.¦fe1 which may give White an edge.

15.d5

15.¤b5!? perhaps offers White the better

chances.

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15...e4!

The only move, since after 15...c5 16.e4! White

is clearly on top.

16.dxc6 £e5 17.f4 exf3 18.¦xf3 ¤g4

19.cxb7+ ¢b8 20.hxg4 ¦h1+ 21.¢f2

21.¢xh1? is obviously impossible, because of

21...£h2#.

21...¦xa1 22.¤e2 ¥c5 23.¥c3

In case of 23.¦xf7 ¦xd2 24.£xd2 ¥xe3+

25.£xe3 ¦f1+ 26.¢xf1 £xe3 only Black

retains some winning chances.

23...£e7 24.g5 ¦dd1

After 24...£xg5 25.£e4! White is in perfect

control.

25.¤g3

25.£xd1? ¦xd1 26.¥xd1 £xg5 clearly favours

Black.

25...¥d6 26.£e2

26.¦xf7? is simply bad, in view of 26...¥xg3+

27.¢xg3 £xg5+ 28.¢f3 ¦f1+ 29.¢e4 ¦xf7

30.¥xf7 £f5+ and Black wins.

26...¦g1?

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.¤f3 ¤f6 4.e3 ¥f5 5.¤c3 e6

6.¤h4 ¥g6

The main alternative is 6...¥e4 which was

covered in CVO 42.

7.¤xg6

Lately White has delayed the exchange on g6

until after Black castles. In CVO 79 and 101 we

mentioned 7.¥e2.

7...hxg6 8.¥d3

More common are 8.¥d2 or 8.g3.

8...¤bd7

In an earlier game Gelfand tried 8...c5 9.£b3

£d7 10.cxd5 exd5 11.dxc5 ¥xc5 12.£b5

£xb5 13.¤xb5 and although the players soon

agreed to a draw in Kramnik-Gelfand, Saint

Vincent 2005, White is slightly better.

9.0–0

9.a3 ¥d6 10.h3 0–0 11.0–0 £e7 12.¦e1 dxc4

13.¥xc4 e5 14.¥a2 ¦ad8 15.f4 e4 16.¦f1

¤b6 17.¥d2 c5! with equality in Vyzmanavin-

Kramnik, Paris rapid 1994.

9...¥d6 10.h3

10.g3 0–0 (10...dxc4 11.¥xc4 ¤b6 is OK for

Black.) 11.a3 ¦e8 (11...dxc4 should still have

been played.) 12.c5 ¥c7 13.f4 ¤h7 14.b4

a6 15.a4 was seen in Tregubov-Marcelin,

Clichy 2006 and is clearly something you ' d

like to avoid with Black. White has the better

prospects on both wings.

10...dxc4

Gelfand understands perfectly well that Black

has to take concrete measures in the centre.

An earlier game went 10...£e7 11.¦e1 0–0

12.¥d2 ¦ad8 13.c5 ¥b8 14.f4 which gave

White a stable and clear advantage in Santos-

Antunes, Portugal 1997.

11.¥xc4 ¤b6 12.¥b3 e5 13.£c2 £e7

Gelfand intends to place his ¢ on the

queenside, attempting to exploit the open

h-file. Moreover, 13...0–0? fails tactically to

14.£xg6!

(diagram)

A serious mistake. Black should have gone for

26...¥xg3+! 27.¦xg3 (27.¢xg3? £xg5+ 28.¢f2

£h4+ 29.¦g3 ¦f1+–+) 27...¦f1+ 28.£xf1 ¦xf1+

2 of 4

openings what’s hot and what’s not?

151 | November 23 n 2011

this week’s harvest

Sicilian, Kan

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1.e4 c5 2.¤f3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.¤xd4 a6 5.¥d3 ¤f6 6.0–0 e5 7.¥g5 h6 8.¥xf6 £xf6 9.¤f5

g6 10.¤e3 ¥c5 11.¤c3 d6 12.¤cd5 £d8 13.c3 ¥e6 14.¥c2 0–0 15.¤g4 ¤d7 16.¤xh6+

¢g7 17.¤f5+ gxf5 18.exf5 ¥xd5 19.£g4+ ¢h6 20.£h3+ ¢g5 21.£g3+ ¢h5 22.£g7

The Sicilian Kan with 5.¥d3 is usually met by 5...¥c5 intending to chase the ¤ away from d4, where it usually

plays an active role in White's attacking plans. This setup has its own drawbacks as well and therefore Black has

attempted to revive the old idea of 5...¤f6 6.0–0 e5!? in the last couple of months. Rather than spending a tempo

on the development of his dark-squared ¥, Black moves his e-pawn twice even at the cost of weakening the

key d5 and f5 squares. So far it's not clear where the ¤ would be best off (see the analysis in the PGN-file). The

most principled continuation is 7.¥g5! which led to a quick victory for White in T. Kosintseva-Hou Yifan, thanks

to strong preparation (12.¥c4!) with Russian GM Dokhoian, former coach of Kasparov and currently working

with Karjakin as well. Undoubtedly the latter simply intended to repeat that line again, but Svidler was the first to

deviate with 9...g6!? which so far seems to serve Black perfectly well.

Slav, Chebanenko

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1.¤f3 d5 2.d4 ¤f6 3.c4 c6 4.¤c3 a6 5.e3 b5 6.b3 ¥g4 7.£c2 e6 8.¤e5

¥f5 9.¥d3 ¥xd3 10.¤xd3 dxc4 11.bxc4 bxc4 12.¤e5 ¤bd7 13.0–0

The solid Chebanenko Slav has been a tough nut to crack for years now. By putting all his pawns on the light

squares and placing his ¥ outside the pawn chain, Black easily solves the problem of the weakest link in his camp.

In earlier issues we've seen that the main line initiated with 7.h3 is also doing fine for Black in the sharp lines.

Hence Kramnik decided to deviate from the common paths with 7.£c2!?, which has been played in only a couple

of games. White steps out of the annoying pin, but invites Black to weaken White's kingside structure. However, as

the game Nyzhnyk-Ivanov illustrates, matters become rather one-sided and don't offer Black any kind of hope of

playing for more than a draw. After 7...e6 8.¤e5 ¥f5 9.¥d3 ¥xd3 10.¤xd3, the ¤ is excellent placed on d3 where

it covers the weakened dark squares. Kramnik easily got the upper hand and Ivanchuk admitted that his opening

needs some ''repair work''. Perhaps 10...¤bd7 would fit better into Black's restrained style in this opening.

QGD, Exchange

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1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.¤c3 ¥e7 4.cxd5 exd5 5.¥f4 c6 6.e3 ¥f5 7.g4 ¥e6 8.h4 ¤d7 9.¥g3 ¤b6 10.f3 ¥d6

11.¥xd6 £xd6 12.£c2 ¤e7 13.¥d3 h5 14.g5 0–0–0 15.¤ge2 ¢b8 16.¢f2 g6 17.a4 a5 18.¤g3 ¦df8

Since the cooperation between Kasparov and Nakamura has officially been confirmed, the games of the

American deserve a closer look from a theoretical perspective. Interestingly, he has picked up the QGD Exchange

Variation, which was popularized by ''The Boss'' in his match with Karpov in 1985 and was later employed by him

again in the rapid match held in Valencia in 2009. In Bilbao earlier this year Nakamura won a good game against

Aronian by exploiting his favourable pawn structure in the endgame. This time Aronian posed his opponent

more problems, as in the diagram position Black is ready to generate counterplay connected with the opening of

the f-file with ...f7–f6. In the ensuing situation Black is forced to sacrifice the exchange, but in return he obtains

excellent compensation for the slight material investment, as the white ¢ proves vulnerable on f2. The objective

strength of White's novelty on move 9 can be questioned. After Aronian's 9...¤b6! Black's pieces easily find nice

squares to neutralize White's space advantage on the kingside.

Grünfeld, 7.¥c4

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1.d4 ¤f6 2.c4 g6 3.¤c3 d5 4.cxd5 ¤xd5 5.e4 ¤xc3 6.bxc3 ¥g7 7.¥c4 c5 8.¤e2

¤c6 9.¥e3 0–0 10.0–0 ¥g4 11.f3 ¥d7 12.¦b1 £c7 13.¥d3 ¦fd8 14.£d2 a6 15.f4 e6

Against the Grünfeld with 7.¥c4, Black has tried several different setups since the former main line with 10...¥g4

11.f3 ¤a5 went out of fashion due to 12.¥d3 cxd4 13.cxd4 ¥e6 14.d5! In earlier issues we've dealt with the

other main options for generating counterplay against White's centre, though we never seriously considered the

provocative 10...¥g4 11.f3 ¥d7. Black hopes the advance of the f-pawn will weaken the central dark-squares

rather than be a support for his massive centre. In the PGN-file you'll find an overview of the current state of this

line, which in fact seems a perfectly playable option for Black. In the press conference Svidler admitted having

mixed up his analysis based on GM Avrukh's suggestions, since after 13...¦fd8 14.£d2 he simply couldn't

remember anything. The position in the diagram deserves further investigation, as the Russian GM feared White

could have launched a powerful attack with 16.f5. So far, I've failed to prove that verdict, but perhaps the analysis

will point you in the right direction.

3 of 4

openings what’s hot and what’s not?

151 | November 23 n 2011

it’s your move

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last week’s solutions

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Rasmussen-Sutovsky, European Teams (Porto Carras), 2011

It seems White has managed to gain control over the centre thanks to his strong ¤ on c4. On the other hand,

his ¢ is still stuck in the centre and the pin along the e-file is quite annoying. With some power moves, Grünfeld

expert Sutovsky seizes the initiative. 18...¥f5! 19.£b3 ¦xe2+! 20.¢xe2 ¤d7! and suddenly all Black ’ s pieces

are getting into play. The main threat now is 21...¤ge5. White is absolutely helpless. 21.¢e1 21.¦hc1 can be

met by 21...¤ge5 and Black wins. 21...¥e4 22.h3 ¥xd5 23.hxg4 ¥xc4 24.£c2 ¥d3 25.£b3 c4 26.£xb4 £e6+

27.¥e3 ¦b8 28.£a5 ¥xb2 29.¦d1 ¥a3 30.¤d4 £xg4 31.£g5 ¥b4+ 32.¦d2 £xg5 33.¥xg5 ¥a5 34.¤b5 a6

35.¤a3 ¦b3 36.¥e7 ¦b2 0–1

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Mamedyarov-Vajda, European Teams (Porto Carras), 2011

In a Czech Benoni Black has managed to trade £s which is in general fine for him. White has, however, doubled

his ¦s on the h-file and with forceful play he manages to infiltrate into Black's camp. 22.f4! ¤f7 22...¤xe4+?

loses to 23.¥xe4 fxe4 24.¦h7+ ¢g8 25.¤xe4 and White wins while after 22...fxe4 23.¤xe4 ¤xe4+ 24.¥xe4

¦h8 25.b3! ¦xh4 26.gxh4 hite retains the initiative in this ending due to Black ’ s vulnerable pawns on d6 and

g6. Black ’ s best option might have been 22...exf4 23.¤xf4 ¦f6 though even after 24.¦h6 White retains some

pressure. 23.¦h7+ ¢f6 24.exf5 gxf5 24...¥xf5 25.¥xf5 gxf5 26.fxe5+ ¢xe5 27.¦1h5 with a powerful initiative for

White. 25.fxe5+ ¤xe5 25...dxe5 is met by 26.¦1h6+! ¤xh6 27.¦xh6+ ¢g7 28.¦xb6 and White wins. 25...¢xe5

can be answered with 26.¤f4+–. 26.¦1h6+ ¢g5 27.¤f4 ¤xd3+ 28.¤xd3 1–0

openings

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

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