CVO_015.pdf

No. 15, April 15, 2009

OPENINGS

WHAT’S HOT AND WHAT’S NOT?

XIIIIIIIIY

9RSN-WQKVL-TR0

9ZP-ZPP+PZPP0

9LZP-+PSN-+0

9+-+-+-+-0

9-+PZP-+-+0

9+-+-+NZP-0

9PZPQ+PZP-ZP0

9TRNVL-MKL+R0

XIIIIIIIIY

What happened to the

solid Queen’s Indian?

By IM Merijn van Delft & IM Robert Ris

Frequency

This week we have a inal look at the Russian Team

Cup in Dagomys and among other events we checked

the tournament in Foxwoods for you.

WHAT’S HOT?

Finally Movsesian’s Scheveningen has been tested by a Keres

Attack, although not the hardcore version of it. Another development

in the Scheveningen was registered in Wang Hao-Timofeev. In

Najer-Tregubov Black was fine in the Sveshnikov line we studied

in CVO 1.

Score

The Caro-Kann continues to do well as an answer against 1.e4.

Typically, White only made headway with the Kotronias idea

(17.£c2) in the main line Caro-Kann, which brought him victory in

S.B.Hansen-Schandorff, Danish Championship.

Shulman-Van Wely was an Anti-Moscow Gambit that looked fine

for Black until he blundered badly. In Moiseenko-Gelfand White

played the fashionable, positional 9.a3 in the Meraner, but soon

settled for a draw.

In our Game of the Week we see Black struggling to find new ways

in the Queen’s Indian. Please note that from the diagram position

5...¥b7 and 5...c5 usually transpose. Instead of 1.d4 ¤f6 2.c4 e6 3.

¤f3 b6 the Ragozin Variation 3...d5 4.¤c3 ¥b4 seems to be doing

better at the moment, e.g. Belov-Ivanchuk.

Source: Megabase + TWIC, 2500+ only

The French continues to be out of shape. White is scoring well in basically every variation. We have a closer look at the Steinitz and

Rubinstein Variations below. The classical Philidor (via the Pirc move order) scored a cold

0 out of 2 for Black this week, which took us by surprise since we thought Black was doing

fine there (see PGN file).

WHAT’S NOT?

1 of 4

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

No. 15, April 15, 2009

Positional power play in the 5. £ c2 Gambit

The annual Foxwoods Open was dominated by GM Yuri Shulman from start to inish. In the

third round he demonstrated his positional superiority in a topical Queen’s Indian against his

compatriot Friedel.

A nice intermediate move, making White’s

forces ready for an invasion.

XIIIIIIIIY

9RSNRWQ-+K+0

9ZP-+-VLPZPP0

9-+-+PSN-+0

9+PZP-+-+-0

9-+N+L+-+0

9+-+-+NZP-0

9PWQ-VLPZPLZP0

9TR-+-TR-MK-0

XIIIIIIIIY

GAME OF THE WEEK

Shulman, Y (2632) - Friedel, J (2516)

Foxwoods Open, April 9, 2009

E15, Queen’s Indian, 5.£c2 ¥b4+

XIIIIIIIIY

9RSN-WQ-TRK+0

9ZP-+PVLPZPP0

9LZPP+PSN-+0

9+-ZP-+-+-0

9-+-ZP-+-+0

9SN-+-+NZP-0

9PZPQVLPZPLZP0

9TR-+-MK-+R0

XIIIIIIIIY

10.cxd6 £xd6 11.0–0 ¦c8

11...¥xe2? doesn’t work on account of

12.¥f4.

12.¦fe1 ¥b7?

This move gives White possibility to stabilize

his space advantage. Necessary was 12...

c5! 13.dxc5 £xc5 (13...¦xc5? 14.¥b4)

14.£xc5 ¥xc5 15.¤e5 ¤d5 16.¦ac1 giving

White a small, but lasting advantage.

13.¤c4 £d8 14.b4

Black’s position is quite passive and

therefore Friedel decides open the position:

14...c5

14...¤bd7 15.e4 gives White an obvious

space advantage. But not 15.a4?! c5

16.dxc5 a5! with counterplay.

15.dxc5 ¥e4 16.£b2 bxc5 17.b5

1.d4 ¤f6 2.c4 e6 3.¤f3 b6 4.g3 ¥a6 5.£c2

This move poses a real problem for the

once so solid Queen’s Indian.

5...¥b4+

5...¥b7 6.¥g2 c5 7.d5! exd5 8.cxd5 is the

main line and was examined in CVO 11

while 5...c5 6.d5! exd5 7.cxd5 ¥b7 8.¥g2

transposes.

6.¥d2 ¥e7

6...¥xd2+ 7.¤bxd2 is generally not

recommended, giving White a advantage

in development. For example 7...0–0 8.¥g2

d5 9.0–0 c6 10.b4 £e7 11.¦fb1 ¤bd7 12.a4

¦fc8 13.a5 Nisipeanu-Rausis, Evry 2008.

7.¥g2 c6

7...0–0 8.b4! ¥b7 9.0–0 c5 10.dxc5 bxc5

11.b5 d5 12.a4 ¤bd7 13.e3 and thanks

to the far-advanced pawn majority

White had the better prospects in

Miroshnichenko-A.Sokolov, Cappelle

la Grande 2009. A serious alternative

could be 7...d5 after which 8.b3 tends

to transpose to the traditional 5.b3 lines

while moves like 8.¤e5 or even 8.cxd5

are more principled.

8.c5!

Putting a clamp on the Black queenside.

8...0–0 9.¤a3!

20...¥f6

20...¦xc6? 21.bxc6 and two pieces are still

hanging.

21.£b3 £c7 22.¢xg2 ¤5b6?

It was probably a better idea trying to get

rid of the strong ¤c6 by 22...¤e7 after

which 23.¥f4! e5 24.¤xe7+ ¥xe7 25.¥d2

still gives a pleasant advantage.

23.¥a5

It looks like Black ended up in some kind

of zugzwang. After the next move, his

position completely collapses, but it’s hard

to suggest anything better.

23...¤b8

23...a6 24.a4 only further weakens the

stability of Black’s ¤.

24.¤xa7!

A nice tactical shot, which is hard to

overlook. Most likely Shulman had seen the

final position in advance.

24...£b7+

24...£xa7 25.¥xb6 £xa2 26.£xa2 ¦xa2

27.¤d6 with a healthy extra pawn.

25.£f3 £xf3+ 26.exf3 ¤xc4 27.¤xc8

¤xa5 28.¤b6 ¦a7 29.¦xc5

The smoke has cleared, the black knights

are completely dominated.

29...¤d7 30.¤xd7 ¦xd7 31.b6 1–0

(diagram)

Black gained some “luft” for his pieces,

but at a high price! White has a strong

candidate passed pawn, while the ¤

occupies a wonderful blockading square

on c4.

17...¤bd7 18.¦ac1 ¤d5 19.¤fe5 ¥xg2

19...¤xe5 20.¥xe4 ¤xc4 21.¦xc4 doesn’t

change the evaluation of the position.

20.¤c6!

Typical modern chess, neglecting one

of Tarrasch’s most famous expressions:

“Knights on the rim are grim”. In fact the

knight is quite harmoniously placed here.

9...d5

The first new move. 9...¥b7 10.b4 a5?

(10...d5) 11.¤c4 ¤d5 12.¦b1! axb4

13.¤xb6 ¤xb6 14.¦xb4 ¦a6 15.£b3

and White regains the piece with a extra

healthy pawn up, Topalov-S.Zhigalko,

Dresden 2008.

SHULMAN - FRIEDEL

2 of 4

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

No. 15, April 15, 2009

THIS WEEK’S HARVEST

Scheveningen, Keres Attack

XIIIIIIIIY

9-+-+K+-TR0

9+PWQLVLP+-0

9P+-ZPPSN-ZP0

9+-+-SN-+-0

9-+-SNPVLP+0

9+-ZP-+-+P0

9P+P+Q+L+0

9+K+R+R+-0

XIIIIIIIIY

1.e4 c5 2.¤f3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.¤xd4 ¤f6 5.¤c3 d6 6.g4 h6 7.h3 a6 8.¥g2 ¤c6

9.¥e3 ¤e5 10.£e2 g5 11.f4 gxf4 12.¥xf4 ¥d7 13.0–0–0 ¦c8 14.¢b1 ¥e7 15.¦hf1 ¦xc3 16.bxc3 £c7

In Timofeev-Movsesian White played the Keres Attack, but settled for the modest 7.h3. We believe the more

straightforward 7.h4 is still critical and refer to the Rybka 3 book for some interesting new ideas. In the diagram

position Black has sacrificed the exchange, which as a rule of thumb is always playable when White has castled

queenside and has to take back with the b-pawn. Movsesian himself learned this lesson from none other than

Kasparov in their game in Sarajevo 2000. Mysteriously already back in the 1990s Movsesian played a couple

of games from the White side and circumvented ¦xc3 by the clever move order 13.¤f3 £c7 14.0–0–0. Additional

options to do so are 14.£e1 and 14.¤f3 since 14...¦xc3 15.¤xe5 dxe5 16.¥xe5 ¦c5 17.¦xd7! was good for White

in Fontaine-Quinn, York 2000. Even more puzzling is that Movsesian didn't take on c3 one move earlier, like in

Jenni-Hracek, Dresden 2007.

Scheveningen, rare lines

XIIIIIIIIY

9R+LWQK+-TR0

9ZPP+-VLPZPP0

9-+NZP-+-+0

9+-+-ZP-+-0

9-+-+N+-+0

9+NSN-VL-+-0

9PZPPWQLZPPZP0

9TR-+-MK-+R0

XIIIIIIIIY

1.e4 c5 2.¤f3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.¤xd4 ¤f6 5.¤c3 e6 6.¥e3 ¤c6 7.¥e2 ¥e7 8.£d2 e5 9.¤b3 ¤xe4

It ’ s amazing to find out that the pseudo sacrifice ¤xe4 is new in this exact position. Usually when White is aiming

to castle queenside in the Open Sicilian, he leaves his king ’ s bishop on its initial square. Since ¥e2 has been

played already, moving twice with the e-pawn is fully justified. Concretely: if White would go for a different move

order by 7.£d2 ¥e7 8.0–0–0 e5 9.¤b3, then ¤xe4 doesn ’ t work here because White ’ s rook is already on d1,

controlling the d5 square. In case White wants to win a pawn following 10.¤xe4 d5 11.¤g3 d4 12.¥xd4 exd4

13.0–0–0 0–0 14.¤xd4, Black obtains excellent play with 14...£b6. The open files in combination with the pair

of bishops are giving Black more than enough compensation. It seems that with this unexpected central blow,

Russian GM Timofeev refuted a whole line which had been played dozens of times before!

French, Classical

XIIIIIIIIY

9R+L+KVL-TR0

9+-+N+PZPP0

9PWQN+P+-+0

9+P+PZP-+-0

9-+PZP-ZP-+0

9ZP-+-VLN+-0

9-ZPPWQN+PZP0

9TR-+-MKLTR-0

XIIIIIIIIY

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.¤c3 ¤f6 4.e5 ¤fd7 5.f4 c5 6.¤f3 ¤c6 7.¥e3 a6 8.£d2 b5 9.a3 £b6 10.¤e2 c4 11.¦g1

The Steinitz Variation (4.e5) is more straightforward than 4.¥g5 since the latter gives Black the extra options

4...¥b4 (McCutcheon) and 4...dxe4 (Burn). It is not necessarily easier to play though since Black has lines like

7...£b6 8.¤a4 £a5 9.c3 b6 10.¥d2 c4 11.b4 ¤xb4 sacrificing a ¤ for two pawns. The position after 9.a3 is one

of the most critical in the French today and fairly rich in content. Morozevich for one has invented the fantastic

9...g5!? attacking the white pawn chain from all sides. 9...£b6 is connected to the famous game Kasparov-

Radjabov, Linares 2003, in which the 16-year-old won sensationally. After 11.g4 Black answers 11...h5, therefore

in Kryakvin-Rakhmanov, Damomys 2009 White introduced the novelty 11.¦g1!?. With 15.f5!? Kryakvin followed

up with an inspired positional pawn sacrifice and while repeatedly using the strongholds on g5 and e5 he finally

hunt down the enemy ¢.

French, Rubinstein

XIIIIIIIIY

9R+-TR-+-+0

9+PWQ-+KZPP0

9-+-VLP+-+0

9+P+-+-+-0

9-+-WQ-+-+0

9+-ZP-VL-+-0

9-ZP-+KZPPZP0

9TR-+-+-+R0

XIIIIIIIIY

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.¤d2 dxe4 4.¤xe4 ¤d7 5.¤f3 ¤gf6 6.¤xf6+ ¤xf6 7.c3 c5 8.¤e5 a6 9.¥e3 £c7 10.£a4+ ¤d7 11.¥b5

cxd4 12.¥xd7+ ¥xd7 13.£xd4 ¥b5 14.a4 ¥d6 15.¤xf7 ¢xf7 16.axb5 axb5 17.¢e2 ¦hd8

The French Rubinstein (3...dxe4) has been considered as one of Black ’ s main drawish weapons against 1.e4.

Since Kasparov ’ s victory over Ponomariov, back in Linares 2002, the system with 8.¤e5 has developed gradually

and always posed Black some small problems. Instead of going for the equal ending (taking everything on d7),

in recent times White has tried the more ambitious 13.£xd4. The first games in this specific line, Black went

for the less accurate 13...f6, admitting an unfavourable version of the ending. Against Akobian, during the last

Olympiad, Dimitrios Mastrovasilis improved on his own game he played a few weeks before against another

Rubinstein specialist Georg Meier, Kalithea 2008. In the Russian league Grachev introduced the new 17...¦hd8

and achieved a comfortable draw, although Vachier Lagrave should have opted for the more critical 21.¥f4. The

last word has not been said yet.

3 of 4

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

No. 15, April 15, 2009

OPENING EXPERT

Who:

Fabiano Caruana

Born:

July 30, 1992

Nationality:

Italy

Rating:

2649

Expertise:

Various openings with both colours. Feels best at home in clear,

positional games.

Why:

Italy’s biggest talent is a very universal player.

Key game:

Caruana - Tiviakov ,

Russian Team Cup (Dagomys) 2009

White ’ s pieces exerting pressure on Black ’ s

weaknesses.

26...¢h7 27.¥c5 ¦d8 28.£a3 ¦b7 29.¤e1!

Bringing the last piece to the stage!

29...f5?! 30.¤d3 ¦bb8 31.¥f8 b4 32.¥xb4

¤xb4 33.¤xb4 fxe4 34.¥xe4 £c4 35.¦e1 ¦bc8

36.h4!

One can see Caruana is a typical player with a

classical chess education. White has won the

battle on the queenside and now decides to

create a second front.

36...£xc3 37.£xc3 ¦xc3 38.h5 ¦c4 39.hxg6+

¢h8 40.¤d5 ¥c6

40...¦xe4 41.¦xe4 ¦xd5 42.¦a8

41.¤e3 ¦xe4 42.¦xc6 ¦f4 43.¤c4 ¦df8 44.f3

e4 45.¦xe4 ¦xe4 46.fxe4 ¥d4+ 47.¢h2 ¦e8

48.¢h3 ¦xe4 49.¤d6 ¦f4 50.¦c4!

Forcing the exchange of ¦s.

50...¥e3

50...¢g7 51.¦xd4

51.¦xf4 ¥xf4 52.¤f5 ¢g8 53.¢g4 ¥c1 54.¢h5

¥d2 55.¤xh6+ ¢g7 56.¤f5+ ¢g8 57.g4 ¥c3

58.¢h6 ¥d2+ 59.g5 ¥c3 60.g7 1–0

Unlike most players from his generation,

Caruana isn ’ t that kind of player who enters the

most topical opening lines. He simply prefers

clear positions, where he can rely on his natural

sense for the game.

1.e4 c5 2.¤f3 ¤c6 3.¥b5 d6 4.0–0 ¥d7 5.c3 a6

6.¥a4 ¤f6 7.¦e1 b5 8.¥c2 e5 9.h3 g6

9...g5!? is Zezulkin ’ s

19.cxb4 ¦xb4 20.£e2 cxb3 21.¤xb3 since

21...¤xe4 fails to 22.¥xe4 ¦xe4 23.£c2.

19.£e2 cxb3 20.¥xb3 h6

XIIIIIIIIY

9-TRLTR-+K+0

9+-+-WQPVL-0

9-+N+-SNPZP0

9+PSN-ZP-+-0

9-+-+P+-+0

9+LZP-VLN+P0

9-+-+QZPP+0

9TR-+-TR-MK-0

XIIIIIIIIY

The position looks just marginally better for

White, but with very accurate and healthy

moves, Caruana manages to place his pieces

optimally and put his opponent under strong

pressure.

21.£a2 ¤d7 22.¤xd7 ¥xd7 23.¥d5 ¦dc8

24.£b3 ¥e8 25.¦a6 £c7 26.¦ea1

It ’ s worth looking at the current position and

compare it with the previous diagram. All

attacking

idea

mentioned in CVO 11.

10.d4 ¥g7 11.dxc5 dxc5 12.a4 ¦b8

Pure chess psychology, Caruana uses

Tiviakov ’ s White repertoire against Tiviakov

himself! 12...0–0 13.axb5 axb5 14.¦xa8 £xa8

15.£d6 ¦c8 16.¤xe5 ¤xe5 17.£xe5 b4 18.¥g5

¤e8 19.£d5 ¥c6 20.£d2 was seen just two

months ago in Tiviakov-Kuzubov, Neustadt an

der Weinstrasse 2009.

13.¥e3 £e7 14.¤bd2 0–0 15.¤b3 c4 16.¤c5

¥c8 17.axb5 axb5 18.b3

A logical improvement over 18.b4 which was

played in Zhang Zhong-Ehlvest, Beijing 1998.

18...¦d8

Black can ’ t simplify the position by 18...b4

www.chessvibes.com/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! Singles issues cost € 1. You can subscribe too:

€ 18 for six months / € 25 a year (that’s less than € 0.50 per issue!). More info can be found at www.chessvibes.com/openings .

well as posting on the web, is strictly prohibited without prior written permission.

4 of 4

Plik z chomika:

Inne pliki z tego folderu:

Inne foldery tego chomika: