No.
24, June 17, 2009
OPENINGS
what’s hot and what’s not?
XIIIIIIIIY
The King’s Indian 9r+lwq-trk+0
9+pzp-snpvlp0
9-+-zp-+p+0
in its purest form 9zP-+Pzp-+n0
9-+P+P+-+0
9+-sN-+N+-0
By IM Merijn van Delft & IM Robert Ris 9P+-+LzPPzP0
9tR-vLQtR-mK-0
xiiiiiiiiy
Poikovsky was won by Motylev ahead of Gashimov. Frequency
Bazna has started and fortunately Shirov recovered
from his bad form last week. Cheparinov is leading
the Ruy Lopez tournament and Dominguez tops the
standings of the Capablanca Memorial Elite group.
what’s hot?
In the decisive penultimate round in Poikovsky, Motylev impressively beat
Gashimov in the Petroff main line. In Bazna, Gelfand was ready to repeat Score
his game against Leko in the 8.¦e1 line, against Radjabov. The Ruy
Lopez has scored a convincing 3 out of 3 so far in the tournament with the
same name. Lariño Nieto beat Adams with the Exchange Variation, which
we examine below. Caruana managed to deliver a nice attacking game
against the popular and hard-to-crack 3...£d6 Scandinavian Defence.
8...¥e7 9.f3 h5!? is a very modern approach in the Taimanov Sicilian,
against which White so far has been struggling to find the right answer.
Corrales Jimenez-Quezada Perez doesn’t answer all questions, but has
a pretty finish that reminds of the famous Morphy-Isouard game (see
PGN file).
Granda Zuniga-Cheparinov saw a pretty march of the black king and
confirmed that Black is currently fine in the Botvinnik. Romanishin seems
to have repaired his variation in the Nimzo-Indian. Our Game of the Week
is a highly exciting King’s Indian reminding of the days in which Kasparov
analysed his brilliant King’s Indian wins for New in Chess Magazine. In the
diagram position Black chose 11...f5 and got more attacking chances than
he usually does these days. Source: Megabase + TWIC, 2500+ only
1.e4 e5 was played very often this week (especially in Poikovsky), but didn’t score too well. This week’s opening expert Vugar Gashimov had
quite some influence on these statistics as he scored an impressive 2.5 out of 3 against the
Berlin Wall. The status of this complex ending keeps varying between unclear and better for
White, but this week it’s definitely not hot.
what’s Not?
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ChessVibes OPENINGS what’s hot and what’s not? No. 24, June 17, 2009
(Almost) checkmating White in the Bayonet
The Bayonet Attack (9.b4) is designed to prevent Black’s direct attack on the kingside, but
Nisipeanu managed to get just what Black is dreaming of in the King’s Indian. We can’t help
but think that Kasparov would have won this game...
Not so clear is 24.gxf3?! and after the more or
game of the week less forced sequence 24...£g5 25.fxg4 ¤h3+
26.¢h1 (26.¢g2? ¥xg4 27.¥xg4 ¦xf1 28.¢xf1
Gelfand, B (2733) - Nisipeanu, LD (2675) XIIIIIIIIY ¦f8+) 26...¤f2+ 27.¦xf2 ¦xf2 28.£c1 £h4
Kings Tournament (Bazna), June 15, 2009 9r+lwq-trk+0 29.£g1 ¦xe2 30.£g3 £xg3 31.hxg3 ¥xg4
E97, King’s Indian, Bayonet Attack 9+p+-+-vl-0 32.¤xa8 ¥f3+ 33.¢g1 ¥xe4 the complex ending
9-sN-zp-snn+0 should most likely end in a draw.
1.d4 d6 2.¤f3 g6 3.c4 ¥g7 4.e4 ¤f6 5.¤c3 0–0 9zP-+Pzp-+p0 24...gxf3 25.¦xf3 ¥g4 26.¤xa8
6.¥e2 e5 7.0–0 ¤c6 8.d5 ¤e7 9.b4 ¤h5 10.¦e1 9-+-+Pzpp+0 XIIIIIIIIY
a5 9vLN+-+P+-0 9N+-wq-trk+0
The main line goes 10...f5 11.¤g5 ¤f6 12.f3 9+p+-+-vl-0
9-+-+L+PzP0
which we examined in Van Wely-Radjabov, in 9-+-zp-+-+0
CVO 4.
9tR-+QtR-mK-0
xiiiiiiiiy 9zP-+Pzp-+p0
11.bxa5 f5
Another important tabiya arises from 11...¦xa5 White seems to be on top, but as often in the KID,
9-+-+Psnl+0
12.¤d2 ¤f4 13.¥f1 c5 which is mainly Black neglects his opponent’s invasion on the
9vLN+-+R+-0
popularized by GM Fedorov. A recent example queenside and bounces back on the other wing. 9-+-+-+PzP0
went: 14.a4 ¦a6 15.¦a3 ¤h5 16.¤b5 ¤f6 17.¥b2 21...¤xe4!! 9tR-+Q+-mK-0
¤e8 18.¤f3 h6 19.g3 f5 20.exf5 ¤xf5 21.¤d2 A deep sacrifice, but typical for Black’s resources. xiiiiiiiiy
¤f6 22.¥d3² which was slightly better for White 22.fxe4 26...£xa8?
in Aronian-Radjabov, Sofia 2008 but as the The best reaction. 22.¤xa8? fails to the fantastic A bad move, which costs Nisipeanu the game. He
final result (0–1) confirms Black had reasonable 22...¤f2!! 23.¢xf2 (If White ignores the knight had some stronger alternatives that are more in
chances anyway. with 23.£c2 Black wins by 23...£h4 24.£xg6 g3 the spirit of the King’s Indian: 26...¤h3+ 27.¦xh3!
12.¤d2 ¤f6 13.c5 ¦xa5 25.h3 ¥xh3! 26.gxh3 ¤xh3+ 27.¢f1 and here (27.¢f1? ¥xf3 28.gxf3 £g5–+) 27...¥xd1 28.¦xd1
13...dxc5?! is instructively met by 14.f3! c6 15.d6! another fantastic knight sacrifice on a empty £xa8 29.¥xd6 slightly favours White; 26...¤xg2
£xd6 16.¤c4 £c7 17.¥e3 ¦d8 18.£c2 ¦d4!? square decides the game: 27...¤g1!!) 23...£h4+ 27.¦xf8+ ¥xf8 28.£f1 ¤f4 29.¦a2 (29.¤b6? £g5
19.¤a4 fxe4 20.¥xd4 exd4 21.fxe4± Van Wely- 24.¢g1 g3 25.h3 ¥xh3!. After 22.£c2 Black also 30.¢h1 ¥h3–+) 29...£g5 30.¢h1 £g6 and thanks
Visser, Leeuwarden 2004. launches a crushing attack: 22...£h4 23.£xe4 to White’s unfortunate coordination Black has
14.¤b3?! (23.fxe4 g3 24.h3 ¥xh3! 25.gxh3 f3 26.¥xf3 ¦xf3 some counterplay; 26...¦f6!? 27.¤d2 (27.¤b6?
This seems to gain time, but in fact the ¤ might 27.¦f1 ¦af8) 23...¥f5 24.£b4 e4! (closing the 4th ¤xg2! is the point of Blacks previous move; the
be misplaced here - compare the classical game rank!) 25.fxe4 g3. Finally, 22.¤xc8 is met by 22... rook can’t be taken with check now; 28.¢xg2
Ljubojevic-Kasparov, Linares 1993 (see PGN). ¦xc8 23.£d3! (23.fxe4 f3 24.gxf3 £h4‚) 23... ¥xf3+ 29.£xf3 ¦xf3 30.¢xf3 £g5.) 27...£xa8
A safer approach is 14.cxd6 cxd6 15.a4 fxe4 gxf3 24.¥xf3 ¦c3 25.£xe4 ¤h4 26.¤d2 and now gives Black certainly good compensation for the
16.¤dxe4 ¤xe4 17.¤xe4 ¥f5 18.f3 ¢h8 19.¥b5 26...¦e3! 27.¦xe3 fxe3 28.£xe3 e4! keeps Black pawn deficit.
¥xe4 20.fxe4 ¤g8 21.¥e3 which was slightly in the game. 27.¥xd6 ¦f7
better for White in Nielsen-Nijboer, Sanxenxo 22...f3 23.¦f1 27...¤h3+ 28.¦xh3 (28.gxh3 ¥xf3 29.£c2 ¦f6)
2004. Again White can’t take the rook: 23.¤xa8? f2+ 28...¥xd1 29.¦xd1 is also clearly better for White.
14...¦a8 15.f3 24.¢h1 g3! while 23.gxf3 gxf3 24.¥xf3 ¤h4 28.£f1!
This position is more frequently reached by 13.f3 25.¤d2 ¥h3 26.£e2 ¦xa5 27.¤bc4 ¦a4 gives Now White is winning.
¦xa5 14.¤b3 ¦a8 15.c5. Black great play despite being a piece down. 28...£d8
15...f4! 23...¤f4 Nothing is achieved by 28...¥xf3 29.gxf3 (but not
Now Black gets his game going in most classical Of course it’s not recommended for Black to 29.£xf3? £a6!).
fashion. release the tension with 23...fxe2 24.£xe2 which 29.¥c5 ¥f8 30.¦f2 £h4 31.¢h1 ¤e2 32.¦xf7
16.a4 g5 17.¥a3 h5 18.a5 ¤g6 19.cxd6 cxd6 is clearly better for White. ¤g3+ 33.¢g1 ¥xc5+ 34.¤xc5 ¤e2+ 35.£xe2
20.¤a4N 24.¥xf3 ¥xe2 36.¦f2 1–0
20.¤b5 ¤e8 21.¦c1 ¦f7 was fine for Black in
Feletar-Ivan, Hungarian League 2008.
20...g4 21.¤b6
gelfand - nisipeanu
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ChessVibes OPENINGS what’s hot and what’s not? No. 24, June 17, 2009
this week’s harvest
Petroff, main line 1.e4 e5 2.¤f3 ¤f6 3.¤xe5 d6 4.¤f3 ¤xe4 5.d4 d5 6.¥d3 ¤c6 7.0–0 ¥e7 8.c4 ¤b4
XIIIIIIIIY 9.¥e2 0–0 10.¤c3 ¥f5 11.a3 ¤xc3 12.bxc3 ¤c6 13.¦e1 ¦e8 14.¥f4 ¦c8 15.c5
9-+rwqr+k+0 We summarized the current state of the 8.¦e1 line last week in CVO 23 and now we can add that in Radjabov-
9zppzp-vlpzpp0 Gelfand Black was indeed ready to dive into the complicated Leko-Gelfand stuff again. 24...¤e6 is a defensive
9-+n+-+-+0 trick we already mentioned in CVO 17 and although Black seems to hold the ending, we do have the impression
White keeps some initiative. 14.¥f4 is an interesting deviation from the main line 14.cxd5 £xd5 15.¥f4 ¦ac8. In
9+-zPp+l+-0
Bologan-Shirov Black chose the long and forcing line starting with 14...dxc4 and drew effortlessly. Still, Black
9-+-zP-vL-+0 has to be on his guard in this variation as a slight mistake means trouble. Gashimov therefore played 14...¦c8 in
9zP-zP-+N+-0 his important game against Motylev inviting a transposition back into the main line with 15.cxd5 £xd5. Motylev
9-+-+LzPPzP0 deviated with 15.c5 and introduced a novelty with 20.¥g5. In the remainder of the game he displayed a lot of
9tR-+QtR-mK-0 patience and fantastic endgame technique, slowly but surely building on his structural advantage.
xiiiiiiiiy
1.e4 e5 2.¤f3 ¤c6 3.¥b5 a6 4.¥xc6 dxc6 5.0–0 £d6 6.¤a3 b5 7.c3 c5 8.£e2 Ruy Lopez, Exchange
The Ruy Lopez Exchange Variation has always been underestimated by many leading players. The seemingly XIIIIIIIIY
venomless strategical idea of giving up some control on 32 squares on the 4th move creates at least an 9r+l+kvlntr0
imbalance, which gives both sides enough hope to strive for the iniative. The classical approach with 5...f6 gives 9+-zp-+pzpp0
White a small but lasting edge in an ending, where it is hard to figure out for Black how to create counterplay. 9p+-wq-+-+0
Hence, Black started adopting new ways of battling White’s strategical threat of getting a kingside majority.
9+pzp-zp-+-0
Adams’ 5...£d6 is a rather risky idea of developing, blocking one’s own bishop. The latest top rated games
confirmed Black is having a hard time here. Adams had to face the relatively unknown 8.£e2, but natural moves
9-+-+P+-+0
brought his young Spanish opponent a clear advantage. Instead of 8...¤e7, 8...¥g4 makes a safer impression
9sN-zP-+N+-0
with the idea to meet 9.¦d1 with 9...£f6. In the game, White quickly opened the d-file and forced Black to stay 9PzP-zPQzPPzP0
on the back rank until the very end. 9tR-vL-+RmK-0
xiiiiiiiiy
Scandinavian, 3...£d6 1.e4 d5 2.exd5 £xd5 3.¤c3 £d6 4.d4 ¤f6 5.¤f3 c6 6.¤e5 ¤bd7 7.¤c4 £c7 8.a4
XIIIIIIIIY As we’ve never discussed the Scandinavian Defence before in CVO, it’s about time. The old main line 3...£a5
9r+l+kvl-tr0 seems be under a bit of pressure, as the sharp attempts with ¥g4 seem to backfire. White then doesn’t hesitate
9zppwqnzppzpp0 with h3, g4 and ¤e5 with some nice initiative. The setup with ¥f5 is not without danger either since White can
9-+p+-sn-+0 toy with the d5 pawn break. In recent years Black found an alternative way of handling the Scandinavian with
3...£d6!? and most notably Tiviakov did well with it against world class opposition. The sharpest approach with
9+-+-+-+-0
5...a6 intending queenside castling seems to be refuted by a clever pawn sacrifice first mentioned by Khalifman
9P+NzP-+-+0 and confirmed several times in practice (see PGN file). More restrained approaches were asked for and in
9+-sN-+-+-0 Motylev-Inarkiev Black successfully survived the opening stage of the game with 5...g6!?. Granda Zuniga tried
9-zPP+-zPPzP0 to do so with 5...c6 but following the novelty 8.a4! Caruana was on top all the time in the subsequent position
9tR-vLQmKL+R0 with castling on opposite sides.
xiiiiiiiiy
1.d4 ¤f6 2.c4 e6 3.¤c3 ¥b4 4.£c2 d5 5.cxd5 £xd5 6.¤f3 £f5 7.£b3 ¤c6 8.¥d2 a5 Nimzo-Indian, 4.£c2 d5
At the last World Championship match in Bonn between Anand and Kramnik, the Indian has put the Romanishin XIIIIIIIIY
variation of the Nimzo-Indian under serious pressure. Since then, various attempts have been tried to repair the 9r+l+k+-tr0
line, but without any particular success. The overall conclusion was that Black’s control over the white squares 9+pzp-+pzpp0
was not sufficient to compensate for White’s advantage of the bishop pair and the pawn centre. This week 9-+n+psn-+0
the inventor of the system himself made another important contribution to the theory. His 8...a5!? is the first
9zp-+-+q+-0
new move, with the idea to drive the queen away in order to strenghten his grip on the white squares. In the
game Romanishin perfectly worked out this plan and managed to keep White’s bishops in control. 9.a3 seems
9-vl-zP-+-+0
to be a bit premature and it would have been better to complete development by 9.e3, ¥e2 and 0–0. Anyway,
9+QsN-+N+-0
Romanishin’s invention seems to revive his own line. 9PzP-vLPzPPzP0
9tR-+-mKL+R0
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ChessVibes OPENINGS what’s hot and what’s not? No. 24, June 17, 2009
opening expert
Who: Vugar Gashimov
Born: July 24, 1986
Nationality: Azerbaijan
Rating: 2730
Expertise: Dynamic player, with great technique, with Black a Petroff expert.
Why: Gashimov has been for a long time considered to be the misfit of the
Azerbaijan clan. His rating used to be about 100 points lower than his two
stronger countrymen, but recently he has been in the spotlights as one
of the most attractive players in the Grand Prix series. Last week in the
Poikovsky tournament he became second behind winner Motylev. This
success can be mainly assigned to his fine handling of the queenless
middlegames arising from the Berlin Wall. With energetic and concrete
play he gradually brought down Onischuk and Naiditsch, while Efimenko
had to suffer the ending a pawn down. Replacing the sidelines he used
in the match Azerbaijan-FIDE World by the more renowned main lines
indicates that he is ready for making another step. A dangerous guy who
is able to measure himself with the world’s strongest!
Key game: Gashimov - Naiditsch, Karpov (Poikovsky), June 10, 2009
1.e4 e5 2.¤f3 ¤c6 3.¥b5 ¤f6 4.0–0 ¤xe4 5.d4 15.¤h4 ¥g4 16.f3 ¥h5 17.f4 ¦d8 18.f5 ¤c5 15.e6 fxe6 16.¦fe1 ¢c8 17.¦d2 b5 18.¦ed1
¤d6 6.¥xc6 dxc6 7.dxe5 ¤f5 8.£xd8+ ¢xd8 19.¤f2 ¦d2 20.¦ac1 g5 21.¤g2 ¥f3 22.¥c3 ¦e2 ¥c6 19.¦d8+ ¢b7 20.¦xa8 ¢xa8 21.¤e5 ¤xe5
9.¤c3 ¤e7 23.¦xe2 ¥xe2 24.¦e1 ¥f3 25.¦e3 g4 26.¤h4 22.¦d8+ ¢b7 23.¥xe5 a5 24.¤f1 h5 25.h4 ¦g8
9...¢e8 10.¤e2 ¤e7 11.h3 a5 12.¦e1 ¤d5 ¥h6 27.¦e1 ¦g8 28.¤xf3 1–0 Gashimov- XIIIIIIIIY
13.¥d2 h6 14.¤fd4 a4 15.e6 fxe6 16.¤xe6 Onischuk, Poikovsky 2009. 9-+-tR-vlr+0
¥xe6 17.¤d4 ¢f7 18.¤xe6 a3 19.bxa3 ¥xa3 12.¥b2 ¥f5 13.¤g3 ¥d7 9+kzp-+-zp-0
20.c4 ¤b4 21.¤xc7 ¦ac8 22.¦e3 ¤c2 23.¦f3+ 13...¥xc2? 14.¦ac1+-. 9-+l+p+-+0
¢e7 24.¦d1 ¦xc7 25.¦c3 ¥b4 26.¦xc2 ¥xd2 14.¦ad1 c5
9zppzp-vL-+p0
27.¦cxd2 ¦a8 28.¦e2+ ¢f7 29.¦b2 ¦a4 30.¦db1 XIIIIIIIIY 9-+-+-+-zP0
¦xc4 31.¦xb7 ¦xb7 32.¦xb7+ ¢f6 33.¦a7 ¦c1+ 9r+-mk-vl-tr0
34.¢h2 c5 35.a4 c4 36.¦c7 c3 37.a5 ¢e5 38.a6
9+P+-+-+-0
9zppzpl+pzp-0 9P+P+-zPP+0
¢d4 39.a7 ¦a1 40.¦xg7 c2 41.¦c7 ¢d3 42.¦d7+ 9-+-+-+nzp0
¢e2 43.¦c7 ¢d2 44.¦d7+ ¢e2 ½–½ Gashimov- 9+-+-+NmK-0
9+-zp-zP-+-0 xiiiiiiiiy
Efimenko, Poikovsky 2009.
10.¤e4 ¤g6 11.b3
9-+-+-+-+0 26.¥f4 e5 27.¥e3 ¥e4 28.¥xc5 ¥xc5 29.¦xg8
Before, Gashimov had played 11.¤fg5 two times.
9+P+-+NsN-0 ¥xc2 30.¦xg7 ¥b1 31.g4 ¥xa2 32.gxh5 ¥f8
11...h6 9PvLP+-zPPzP0 33.¦f7 ¥h6 34.¦f6 ¥c1 35.h6 ¥b1 36.¤e3 ¥xe3
11...¢e8 12.¥b2 ¥f5 13.¦fe1 ¤f4 14.g3 ¤e6 9+-+R+RmK-0 37.fxe3 a4 38.bxa4 b4 39.¦f1 ¥d3 40.¦c1 1–0
xiiiiiiiiy
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?
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