CVO_153.pdf

openings

153 | December 7 n 2011

what’s hot and what’s not?

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Open games in London

By IM Merijn van Delft & IM Robert Ris

The world's absolute elite has moved from Moscow to

London. Carlsen maintained his great form and is leading

the tournament after four rounds together with local hero

McShane, who's also in excellent shape.

Frequency

what's hot?

Score

Whereas last week in Moscow 1.d4 dominated the tournament, in

London 1.e4 is back on the agenda. In Howell-Adams the Anti-Anti-

Marshall was tried, while below we have a look at the Archangelsk

played in McShane-Carlsen. Carlsen won his first two white games

with relatively modest set-ups versus 1. e4 e5 (Italian and Anti-Berlin).

Below we take a look at how those went, and also at McShane's black

win over Adams. McShane also beat Howell with Black in the Scotch.

Adams-Anand was a theoretically relevant 6.¥e2 e5 Najdorf. Does this

mean Anand isn ’ t expecting any Najdorfs in the World Championship

match (in May 2012)? Short won a good game against Adams with

Black in the French Tarrasch.

Nakamura and Aronian continued their discussion in the QGD, which

we'll examine below. The first round encounter Aronian-McShane is our

Game of the Week and saw Black holding his own in the complications.

In the diagram position Black went for 5...e6. Nakamura drew against

Kramnik with Black in the Catalan. Carlsen seemed to have a nice

ending from a Nimzo-Indian, but Kramnik managed to draw.

Source: Megabase + TWIC, 2500+ only

The whole world is criticizing Anand for his current unambitious play in tournament chess. This may be a bit harsh, but he is the

World Champion after all. Not playing any tournaments at all isn’t an option, since practice is important to get into the right shape, but

one would think real playing practice consists of battling it out. Below you’ll see what happened when

Nakamura forced the World Champion to fight.

what’s not?

1 of 4

openings what’s hot and what’s not?

153 | December 7 n 2011

Dynamics at the highest level

Hardly any mistakes were made in this issue's Game of the Week , even though it was

very complex. It seems Aronian’s experimental setup versus the Chebanenko has been

neutralised.

game of the week

Aronian - McShane

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Aronian,L (2802) - McShane,L (2671)

London Chess Classic (London), 03.12.2011

Another logical continuation could have

been 28.c7 ¦e8 29.¦h1 (29.¤b5 e4! with

counterplay) 29...£g5 30.¤b5 ¦e6 31.¤d6

¦g6 32.¦h3 ¦f8 and in these extreme

complications Black seems to have generated

sufficient counterplay, e.g. 33.£c5 ¥e6 34.g4

£e7! and the c-pawn has at least been

brought to a halt.

28...exd4 29.exd5 ¦e8!

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29...£xd5?! 30.c7 ¦dc8 31.¥a6 is pretty

dangerous for Black.

30.£b5

30.¥c4 d3! and Aronian initially thought he

could now play 31.¦f1? (instead 31.¥xd3

£xd5 32.£b5 is still rather unclear.) 31...¦e2+

32.¦f2 but noticed in time that it simply loses

to 32...¦e1!. Moreover, 30.¥f1? can be met

strongly by 30...¦e3 and Black wins.

30...¦a5! 31.c7!

Forced. 31.£xa5 ¦xe2+ leads to mate.; In case

of 31.£d3 £xd5 White ’ s position falls apart.

31...¦xb5 32.¥xb5 £g5!

Of course, not 32...¦c8? 33.d6 and the central

pawn duo is unstoppable.

33.c8£ ¦xc8 34.¦xc8+ ¢h7 35.d6 £d2+

36.¢h3 £d1 37.d7 f5

Preventing the white ¢ from escaping. In case

of the careless 37...£h1+? 38.¢g4 g6 39.¢f4!

(not 39.d8£? £h5+ 40.¢f4 £f5#) 39...£e1

40.¦e8! the white ¢ breaks free.

38.¢g2 £d2+ 39.¢g1 £e1+ 40.¢g2

A draw is also inevitable after 40.¥f1 £xg3+

41.¥g2 £e1+ 42.¢h2 £h4+.

40...£d2+ 41.¢g1 £e1+ 42.¢g2 ½–½

1.¤f3 d5 2.d4 ¤f6 3.c4 c6 4.¤c3 a6 5.£b3!?

A rather unusual way of dealing with the

Chebanenko system. More common are 5.c5

(CVO 16) or 5.e3 which we recently covered in

Kramnik-Ivanchuk (CVO 151).

5...e6

Another approach is 5...dxc4 6.£xc4 b5 7.£d3

e6 which usually arises from the Semi-Slav

move-order with 5.£b3/£d3. A recent high-

profile game went 8.¥g5 c5 9.¥xf6 gxf6 10.d5

¥b7 11.0–0–0 b4 12.¤a4 £xd5 13.£xd5 ¥xd5

14.¤b6 ¥xf3 15.gxf3 ¦a7 with unclear play in

Grischuk-Bacrot, Porto Carras 2011.

6.¥g5 ¥e7 7.e3 0–0 8.¥e2

Leaving d3 available for the £. In other

games White failed to get anything tangible.

8.cxd5 cxd5 9.¥d3 ¤c6 10.0–0 b5 11.¦ac1

¥d7 12.¤e5 ¤xe5 13.dxe5 ¤g4 14.¥f4 £b8

with equality in Portisch-Nogueiras Santiago,

Reggio Emilia 1985. 8.¦c1 ¤bd7 9.¥e2 dxc4

10.£xc4 b5 11.£d3 c5 12.0–0 ¥b7 with level

chances in Korchnoi-Galliamova, Munich

2000; 8.¦d1 b5 9.c5 ¤bd7 10.¥e2 a5 11.a3

¦e8 12.¥f4 ¥a6 13.h3 £c8 14.0–0 ¥d8 15.¥d3

¥c7 16.¦fe1 ¥xf4 17.exf4 b4! and Black

solved his problems in Kazhgaleyev-Volkov,

St Petersburg 2009.

8...h6

The first independent move. An earlier game

proceeded with 8...dxc4 9.¥xc4 (It was

probably Aronian ’ s intention to recapture with

9.£xc4 ) 9...b5 10.¥e2 ¤bd7 11.a4 b4 12.¥xf6

¤xf6 13.¤b1 c5 14.dxc5 ¥xc5 15.¤bd2 ¥b7

and Black was doing very well in Korchnoi-

Short, Wijk aan Zee 1997.

9.¥h4 dxc4 10.£xc4 b5 11.£d3

win a pawn by means of 12.¥xf6 ¥xf6 13.dxc5

since after 13...£xd3 14.¥xd3 ¥xc3+ 15.bxc3

¥b7 followed by 16...¦c8 Black regains his

pawn. It seems this plan neutralizes White ’ s

experimental opening concept.

12.a4 b4 13.¥xf6 ¤xf6 14.¤e4 c5

Black decides to sacrifice a pawn in order to

activate his light-squared ¥. After 14...¥b7

15.¦c1² White retains a firm grip over the c5–

square.

15.¤xc5 ¥xc5 16.dxc5 ¥b7 17.¦c1 ¦c8

18.¤d4

True to his style, the Armenian wizard sets

the board on fire. However, swapping £s with

18.£xd8 ¦fxd8 19.¤d4 ¤d7 20.c6 ¤e5 is

unproblematic for Black.

18...¥xg2 19.¦g1 ¥d5 20.f3 £c7 21.¦g3

¦fd8

21...¤h5 doesn ’ t make much sense yet, in

view of 22.¦h3 and the ¤ has to retreat.

22.£xa6 ¦a8 23.£b6 £e5 24.¢f2

After 24.f4?! £e4 25.¢f2 £h7! the weakness

on e4 can be felt.

24...¤h5 25.c6!

After 25.¦g2 ¤f4! White has nothing better

than a repetition of moves.

25...¤xg3 26.hxg3 £h5 27.¢g2

The ¢ is heading for safety on the kingside.

In the post-mortem the players had a look

at 27.c7 £h2+ 28.¢e1 ¦dc8 29.a5 £xg3+

30.¢d2 when it ’ s absolutely unclear who has

the better chances, as Black also has a strong

passer 30...h5!

27...e5 28.e4

(diagram)

11...¤bd7

Afterwards both players considered 11...c5! to

be the right continuation. White is unable to

2 of 4

openings what’s hot and what’s not?

153 | December 7 n 2011

this week’s harvest

Ruy Lopez, Archangelsk

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1.e4 e5 2.¤f3 ¤c6 3.¥b5 a6 4.¥a4 ¤f6 5.0–0 b5 6.¥b3 ¥c5 7.c3 d6 8.a4 ¦b8 9.d4 ¥b6 10.axb5 axb5 11.£d3 0–0

12.¥g5 h6 13.¥xf6 £xf6 14.£xb5 ¤a7 15.£a4 £g6 16.¦e1 ¥h3 17.g3 £f6 18.¤bd2 ¦bd8 19.£c4 g5 20.£d3 ¥g4 21.¤c4

Theoretically speaking the Archangelsk is a perfectly viable opening for Black, though in several lines he should

simply accept that a draw is the best possible result. One of these lines which comes to mind is the variation with

11.£d3, when after 11...0–0 12.¥g5 the most precise continuation is 12...exd4 when White has so far failed to

prove any advantage. However, if he wishes White can force a draw there with 15.e5, while after 15.¥g3 there's no

real hope of Black playing for a win either. Therefore Carlsen opted for the less accurate 12...h6 allowing White to

grab the pawn on b5. Play does indeed become less forced, though on the other hand the compensation for the

pawn is very minimal. With accurate moves McShane managed to neutralize Black's initiative on the kingside and

didn't have to fear weakening the light squares with 17.g3. In the diagram position White succeeds in eliminating

Black's most powerful piece and thus retains a clear advantage.

Ruy Lopez, Berlin

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1.e4 e5 2.¤f3 ¤c6 3.¥b5 ¤f6 4.d3 ¥c5 5.c3 0–0 6.0–0 ¦e8 7.¥g5 h6 8.¥h4 ¥f8 9.¤bd2 d6 10.d4 exd4 11.¤xd4

¥d7 12.¤xc6 bxc6 13.¥d3 ¥e7 14.f4 £b8 15.¥xf6 ¥xf6 16.e5 dxe5 17.¤e4 £xb2 18.f5 ¦ed8 19.¥c4 ¥e8 20.£h5

The Berlin Endgame is a serious theoretical problem for White at the moment, but that doesn't stop Carlsen from

playing 1.e4. All he needs is an interesting middlegame position he can work with, like the position in the diagram,

which was reached in the first round against Howell from a 4.d3 Anti-Berlin. Objectively speaking Black is fine

and can defend against White's attacking ambitions, but in a practical game mistakes are made and on move 27

Howell lost control. Two days later McShane preferred 6...d6 against Adams and got a perfectly solid position. Then

something strange happened: McShane started a typical attack with 18...¥xh3! which in this case most likely would

have led to a perpetual check, but Adams didn't take back on h3 and duly went on to lose. In this next white game

against Nakamura, Carlsen went for the Italian Game, again not trying to prove an advantage, but as he stated

afterwards, the position was easier to play for White. With 17.f4! the f-file was opened and 31.¦xf6! was a powerful

positional exchange sacrifice launching a deadly attack.

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.¤ge2 ¤d7 8.¤g3 ¥g6 9.¥e2 ¤b6 10.¥e5 ¤f6 11.h4

h6 12.h5 ¥h7 13.¥d3 0–0 14.¥xh7+ ¢xh7 15.£c2+ ¢h8 16.¤f5 ¤c4 17.b3 ¤xe5 18.dxe5 ¤g4 19.f4 £d7 20.0–0–0

Generally games between Nakamura and Aronian are always interesting clashes of different enterprising styles.

Lately they've held their own theoretical battle in the Exchange Variation of the Queen's Gambit Declined (delaying

the development of the ¤ on g8). In CVO 151 we mentioned their games from Bilbao and Moscow, where the

American GM opted for 7.g4. Evidently he isn't satisfied with the novelty he launched then and therefore he

deviated this time with the more solid 7.¤ge2. The Armenian was the first to deviate from the established theory

by playing 10...¤f6, whereas in an earlier game 10...f6?! turned out to weaken the light squares too much. In the

present game the players succeeded in creating a big mess again. As in Moscow, Aronian went for an exchange

sacrifice. It probably wasn't necessary at all, as in the diagram position he might have improved his play with

20...¥c5! Although these kind of structures have been played since the beginning of the 80s (influenced by the

K-K matches), the final conclusion hasn't yet been drawn.

King's Indian, Bayonet

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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.b4 ¤e8

10.c5 f5 11.¤d2 ¤f6 12.a4 g5 13.¤c4 h6 14.f3 f4 15.¥a3 ¤g6 16.b5 dxc5 17.¥xc5 ¦f7 18.a5 h5

19.b6 g4 20.¤b5 cxb6 21.axb6 g3 22.¢h1 ¥f8 23.d6 a6 24.¤c7 ¦b8 25.¤a5 ¢h8 26.¥c4 ¦g7

This position represents one of the most puzzling situations we've had this year. Why did Nakamura play 13...h6

against Anand and then go for the well-known attacking race with 14...f4 after all, a full tempo down compared

to normal? In the press conference after the game he didn't come up with an answer. His main point was that he

didn't want to lose without having any counterplay like the day before against Carlsen. The KID, no matter how big

an advantage the computer suggests White has, always guarantees Black certain counterplay in a practical game

between humans. In the game Nakamura was proven right, since following 27.¤e6 ¥xe6 28.¥xe6 gxh2 Anand

blundered with 29.¤c4?? allowing a double attack with 29...£e8!. In the PGN file a bunch of sample lines can be

found, suggesting that White must be better with accurate defence. But if you want to play this line as White, you

have to do your own analysis and become familiar with all the tactical and positional themes.

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openings what’s hot and what’s not?

153 | December 7 n 2011

it’s your move

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last week’s solutions

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Karjakin-Aronian, Tal Memorial (Moscow), 2011

The exercises on p.4 are typically not so easy to solve, and you don't have to worry if you didn't find Aronian's very

deep move 13...¥a7! 14.¤f1 The point is that after 14.axb5 axb5 the exchange of rooks is prevented and Black is

threatening the discovered attack ...¥xf2!. A nice variation on this theme is 14.£e2 ¤h5 15.axb5 ¤f4 16.£f1 axb5

17.£xb5 ¥d7! again threatening ...¥xf2!. 14...h6 Here 14...£xd1 15.¦xd1 b4 seems to give Black equality. 15.¤e3

£d6 16.£e2 ¥xe3 17.¥xe3 ¥c4 18.£d2 ¦fd8 19.b4 £e6 20.£c1 a5 21.bxa5 bxa4 22.¦xa4 ¥b5 23.¦a3 ¦xa5

24.¦xa5 ¤xa5 25.£a3 ¤c4 26.£c5 c6 27.£b4 ¤xe3 28.¦xe3 ¦d7 29.¦e1 £e7 30.¦b1 ¦b7 31.c4 c5 32.£c3

¥c6 33.£xe5 ¦xb1+ 34.¥xb1 £xe5 35.¤xe5 ¥xe4 36.¥xe4 ¤xe4 37.¤d3 ¤d6 38.¤xc5 ¤xc4 ½–½

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Carlsen-Svidler, Tal Memorial (Moscow), 2011

White has just won a pawn, but this is a positional pawn sacrifice typical of the Grünfeld. Black's standard reaction

here is 11...£c7! keeping the queens on the board. 12.f4 A novelty. Black ’ s compensation after 12.cxb6 axb6

can be compared to the Volga/Benkö Gambit (1.d4 ¤f6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 b5). 12.¤d4 is the common move here.

12...bxc5 13.¦b1 ¦d8 13...¥g4 is an interesting alternative. 14.£a4 14.£c2 is the more controlled alternative.

14...¤a5 15.¥d5 ¥d7 16.£a3 ¦ac8 17.f5 e6 18.¥f4 ¥e5 19.fxe6 fxe6 20.¥b3 ¤xb3 21.axb3 ¦f8 and Black had

a comfortable position.

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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