No.
29, July 22, 2009
OPENINGS
what’s hot and what’s not?
XIIIIIIIIY
The Semi-Tarrasch 9r+lwq-trk+0
9zp-+-+pzpp0
9-zpn+p+-+0
is in trouble 9+-+-+-+-0
9-+LzPP+-+0
9+-+-+N+-0
By IM Merijn van Delft & IM Robert Ris 9P+-wQ-zPPzP0
9tR-+-+RmK-0
xiiiiiiiiy
On pole position after three rounds, Morozevich is Frequency
showing why Biel is his favourite tournament. Internet
king Nakamura won the playoff against Ponomariov in
San Sebastián and Bluvshtein won the Canadian Open
on tie-break after finishing first with Porper.
what’s hot?
Morozevich seems to be very flexible in the opening phase and managed Score
to beat Gelfand with the innocent looking 1.e4 e5 2.¥c4. At the start of the
year in Wijk aan Zee Ivanchuk remarked in a conversation with Short that
he couldn’t understand why Kasparov quit chess: apart from the Najdorf
there is still the interesting French Defence to study? In Biel this opening
is serving him well with two comfortable draws in the first two rounds. The
most principled approach against the French was seen in Shirov-Ganguly
(Canadian Open).
In San Sebastián Vallejo Pons tried the good old bishop sacrifice on b5 to
succesfully surprise San Segundo in the Sveshnikov. In Ni Hua-Bluvshtein
Black neutralised the 4.£xd4 Sicilian in a very dynamic way.
Remarkably, in Mikhalevsky-Ni Hua Black repeated the move 21...h4,
which we dismissed in CVO 22, but this time around the young Chinese
star kept the draw. In our Game of the Week Ponomariov-Vallejo Pons,
Black was under pressure in the Semi-Tarrasch from the word go. In the
diagram position White answered the classical question of where to put the
rooks with 13.¦fe1. Source: Megabase + TWIC, 2500+ only
In the first round of Biel Black played the Nimzo-Indian with 4.£c2 0-0 5.a3 ¥xc3 6.£xc3 d5 twice, and White continued with 7.cxd5
in both cases. In Gelfand-Caruana Black escaped with a draw from a suspicious position but in Morozevich-Alekseev he had to
acknowledge defeat. Needless to say the main line with 6...b6 is still perfectly fine for Black.
what’s Not?
Even though Ivanchuk and his love for chess is definitely hot, in terms of cold statistics this
week the French Defence can’t keep up with the Najdorf and is not.
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ChessVibes OPENINGS what’s hot and what’s not? No. 29, July 22, 2009
A thematic pawn sacrifice
With his last-round win over Vallejo Pons, Ruslan Ponomariov managed to catch tournament
leader Hikaru Nakamura. The typical way of beating the Semi-Tarrasch is with a positional
pawn sacrifice, and it’s all about getting the timing right.
bringing the knight back into the game with
game of the week 19...¤c6 20.¤b3 ¦c3 21.¦e3 d4 22.¦g3 looks
extremely dangerous for Black.
Ponomariov, R (2727) - Vallejo Pons, F (2693) ¦c8 16.d5 exd5 17.e5! The thematic pawn 20.h4
San Sebastián, July 16, 2009 sacrifice, locking out some black pieces from Preventing 20...£g5.
D41, Semi-Tarrasch, 13.¦fe1 play. 17...¤c4 18.£f4 ¤b2 19.¥xh7+! ¢xh7 20...¤c4 21.¥f5!
20.¤g5+ ¢g6 21.h4 ¦c4 22.h5+ ¢h6 23.¤xf7+ Eliminating a defender from e6 and clearing the
1.d4 ¤f6 2.c4 e6 3.¤f3 d5 4.¤c3 c5 ¢h7 24.£f5+ ¢g8 25.e6± Polugaevsky-Tal, 3rd rank.
Hardly seen anymore at top level, where almost Moscow 1969. 14...¦c8!? is also interesting.) 21...¦e8 22.¦d3
everyone goes for the more topical lines arising 15.d5 exd5 16.exd5 ¤f5 17.¤e5 ¤d6 18.¤c6! All white pieces are joining the attack, and
from 4...¥b4, 4...c6 and 4...¥e7. ¥xc6? 19.dxc6 ¤xc4 20.£f4± Petrosian- though there is no any serious threat yet, it
5.cxd5 ¤xd5 Kortschnoi, Candidates match 1977 seems Black is pretty helpless against White’s
Like the text, 5...exd5 also has already passed 14...¤a5 attack.
it’s best time. 14...exd5 15.¥xd5 ¤a5 16.¦ad1 ¥xd5 17.£b4?! 22...¤d6 23.¥xc8 £xc8 24.¦g3
6.e4 ¤xc3 7.bxc3 cxd4 8.cxd4 ¥b4+ 9.¥d2 (More natural seems 17.exd5! ¤c4 18.£f4 ¤d6 XIIIIIIIIY
¥xd2+ 10.£xd2 0–0 11.¥c4 ¤c6 19.¤d4².) 17...¦e8 18.¦xd5 £e7 19.£xe7 ¦xe7 9-+q+r+k+0
Another main possibility is the more passive with a level game in Karpov-Zaw, Bali 2000. 9zp-+-+pzp-0
11...¤d7 although recently Black has suffered 15.¥d3 h6?! 9-zp-sn-+-zp0
a heavy defeat: 12.0–0 b6 13.¦ad1 (Nothing is It doesn’t surprise us that this move has never
9+-trpzP-+-0
achieved by 13.d5?! ¤f6 14.¦ad1 exd5 15.e5 been played before, as it’s not clear at all why
¥e6 16.exf6 dxc4 17.fxg7 ¢xg7 18.¤d4 £f6 Black voluntarily weakens his kingside. Previous
9-+-sN-wQ-zP0
19.¤xe6+ fxe6 20.£d7+ ¢h8 which was seen games saw:
9+-+-+-tR-0
last week in the rapid game Beliavsky-Golod, a) 15...£d6?! 16.¦ad1! (threatening 17.e5 9P+-+-zPP+0
Natanya 2009.) 13...¥b7 14.¦fe1 ¦c8 15.¥b3 £xd5 18.¥xh7! ¢xh7 19.£c2) 16...e5 17.¦c1 9+-+-tR-mK-0
£f6 16.£e3 ¦fd8 17.h3 ¤f8 18.d5 exd5 19.exd5 ¦fc8 18.g3 f6 19.¤h4 g6 20.¤g2± left Black xiiiiiiiiy
¤g6 20.¤g5 h6 21.¤xf7! £xf7 (21...¢xf7 without any hope for counterplay in Pashikian- 24...¦e6
22.d6+ ¢f8 23.d7) 22.d6 ¦c4 23.d7 ¢h7 24.£e8 Naiditsch, Moscow 2009. There was nothing better than giving the
1–0 Jakovenko-Naiditsch, Odessa 2009. b) 15...exd5 16.e5! h6 17.¥c2 (17.£f4!? looks exchange, as other lines are losing even quicker:
12.0–0 b6 13.¦fe1 stronger.) 17...¥a6 18.¦ad1 ¦c8 19.h4 ¦c7 24...¤e4 25.¦xe4! dxe4 26.£f6 g6 27.e6 ¦xe6
White has a lot of freedom in choosing how to 20.h5 ¤b7 21.¥b1 ¤c5 22.£f4 ¥c8 23.¦e3 ¦e8 28.¤xe6 £xe6 29.¦xg6+ winning the queen;
position his rooks. 24.¤d4 ¤e6³ Potkin-Gerzhoy, Philadelphia 24...¢h8 25.¦ee3 (the knight is hanging now)
13...¥b7 14.d5!? 2009, which shows that White needs to play 25...¤e4 (25...¤c4 26.¦xg7!) 26.¦xg7! ¢xg7
XIIIIIIIIY more forcefully to gain anything. 27.¤f5+ and White wins as well.
9r+-wq-trk+0 16.£f4 ¦c8 25.¤xe6 £xe6 26.£g4?!
9zpl+-+pzpp0 16...£f6 17.£g3 exd5 18.e5! £e7 19.¤d4 £g5 Of course not a mistake, but White had a more
9-zpn+p+-+0 20.£xg5 hxg5 21.e6 leads to a typical endgame forcing win at his disposal with 26.exd6! £xe1+
for this line, where White has a small advantage 27.¢h2 £e6 (otherwise 28.£f6) 28.¦e3 £c8
9+-+P+-+-0
as his pieces are better coordinated. 29.¦e7 £f8 30.d7 £xe7 31.£b8+ and the pawn
9-+L+P+-+0 17.¦ad1 ¦c5 queens.
9+-+-+N+-0 If 17...£f6 again 18.£g3 follows. 26...¤f5 27.¦f3 g6 28.h5 ¦c4 29.¦f4 ¦xf4
9P+-wQ-zPPzP0 18.¤d4 exd5 19.e5 ¥c8 30.£xf4 gxh5 31.¦d1 d4 32.¦d3 £d7 33.¦f3
9tR-+-tR-mK-0 With the idea to play the strategically correct d3 34.£d2
xiiiiiiiiy 20...£g5. The immediate 19...£g5 is not so White obviously doesn’t fall for the last trick in
A typical trend in opening play. Nowadays good in view of 20.£xg5 hxg5 21.e6 which is the position: 34.£xf5?? £xf5 35.¦xf5 d2.
people try to handle this specific position similar to our note to Black’s 16th move, while 34...£e6 35.£xd3 ¤e7 36.£d6 1–0
more concretely, while in the seventies White
went in for the more subtle prepatory move.
After 14.¦ad1 White was able to create a
masterpiece twice: 14...¤e7 (14...¤a5 15.¥d3
ponomariov - vallejo pons
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ChessVibes OPENINGS what’s hot and what’s not? No. 29, July 22, 2009
this week’s harvest
Bishop’s Opening 1.e4 e5 2.¥c4 ¤f6 3.d3 c6 4.¤f3 d5 5.¥b3 ¥d6 6.exd5 ¤xd5
XIIIIIIIIY 7.0–0 0–0 8.¦e1 ¤d7 9.d4 exd4 10.¥xd5 cxd5 11.£xd4 ¥c5 12.£d3
9r+lwq-trk+0 Morozevich decided to face Gelfand with the Anti-Petroff move 2.¥c4. Not a very special move in itself, since
9zpp+n+pzpp0 Black can simply transpose to the Italian Game with 3...¤c6 or 3...¥c5, but it gets a Petroff player out of his
9-+-+-+-+0 repertoire. Therefore the independent 3...c6 is often chosen. 6...cxd5 is a somewhat risky alternative, since
the perfect pawn centre is vulnerable. Shirov twice played the Marshall style move 8...¥g4, but notes that with
9+-vlp+-+-0
accurate play White is better. 9.d4 is the Tiviakov Variation, which brought the Russian several victories. With
9-+-+-+-+0 12.£d3 instead of the pawn grabbing 12.£xd5 (which was Tiviakov-Stefanova, Wijk aan Zee 2004), Morozevich
9+-+Q+N+-0 was aiming for a technical edge based on the IQP. Although the game was decided by an ugly blunder, the
9PzPP+-zPPzP0 position apparently was an unpleasant one for Black to have to defend. We think keeping the queens on with
9tRNvL-tR-mK-0 18...£c7 gives equal chances. Maybe it was a psychological Anti-Petroff trap by Moro to count on the exchange
xiiiiiiiiy of queens?
1.e4 c5 2.¤f3 ¤c6 3.d4 cxd4 4.¤xd4 ¤f6 5.¤c3 e5 6.¤db5 d6 7.¥g5 a6 8.¤a3 b5 9.¥xf6 gxf6 10.¤d5 f5 Sveshnikov, 11.¥xb5
11.¥xb5 axb5 12.¤xb5 ¦a4 13.¤bc7+ ¢d7 14.0–0 ¦xe4 15.£h5 ¤d4 16.c3 ¤e2+ 17.¢h1 ¢c6 18.g3 XIIIIIIIIY
The piece sacrifice on b5 in the Sveshnikov is a known weapon (see also 11.c3 ¥g7 12.¥d3 ¥e6 13.¤xb5 which 9-+lwq-vl-tr0
is seen more frequently now). Many Black players gave up the Svesh as they didn’t like the risks involved with 9+-sN-+p+p0
this line. For many years now the line has been considered to be fine for Black, but surprisingly enough Vallejo 9-+kzp-+-+0
repeated the game Mastrovasilis-Illescas up to the 18th move. San Segundo, obviously not familiar with that
9+-+Nzpp+Q0
game, immediately went wrong and lost without a serious fight. The big question that remains is what Vallejo had
in mind if San Segundo would have played 18...¢b7. Mastrovasilis had various chances to make a draw, but
9-+-+r+-+0
that was definitely not what Vallejo was striving for. 21.¤ab4 is more likely what the Spanish GM was intending,
9+-zP-+-zP-0
although the remaining positions are still very unclear. It seems that analyses from the pre-computer era needs 9PzP-+nzP-zP0
to be updated and Svesh-players will have to upgrade their repertoire. 9tR-+-+R+K0
xiiiiiiiiy
Sicilian, 4.£xd4 1.e4 c5 2.¤f3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.£xd4 ¤c6 5.¥b5 ¥d7 6.¥xc6 ¥xc6
XIIIIIIIIY 7.c4 f5 8.exf5 £a5+ 9.¤bd2 £xf5 10.0–0 e5 11.£e3 ¥e7 12.c5
9r+-+k+ntr0 Like several other Anti-Sicilians, the variation with 4.£xd4 has annoyed many Black players over the years.
9zpp+-vl-zpp0 In the current variation, White aims to reach a favourable Maroczy-bind (in case Black plays 7...¤f6) in which
9-+lzp-+-+0 he has already exchanged his light-squared bishop. Like a real Sicilian expert, Bluvshtein opted for the more
dynamic 7...f5. While the statics elements (better pawn structure) favour White, the dynamics are with Black. A
9+-zP-zpq+-0
good example is Jovanovic-Bologan where White played against the weak pawns, while Black generated strong
9-+-+-+-+0 counterplay along the f-file. 12.c5 is the first new move, but after the accurate 12...0–0–0! White didn’t have
9+-+-wQN+-0 anything better than entering an equal ending as any deviation would have given Black the opportunity to force
9PzP-sN-zPPzP0 a draw himself anyway. It seems that the effect of 7.c4 has already worked out and White needs return to 7.¤c3,
9tR-vL-+RmK-0 although Black is perfectly fine there as well.
xiiiiiiiiy
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.¤c3 ¥b4 4.e5 c5 5.a3 ¥xc3+ 6.bxc3 ¤e7 7.£g4 £c7 8.£xg7 ¦g8 9.£xh7 cxd4 French, Winawer 7.£g4 £c7
10.¤e2 ¤bc6 11.f4 ¥d7 12.£d3 dxc3 13.£xc3 0–0–0 14.¦b1 ¤f5 15.¦g1 d4 16.£d3 ¤a5 17.¦b4 ¤c6 18.¦c4 XIIIIIIIIY
The game Karjakin-Kamsky, Nalchik GP 2009 which we analysed in CVO 17 confirmed our sentiment that the 9-+ktr-+r+0
gambit line with 7...£c7 in the French Winawer is underestimated by theory and especially difficult to handle 9zppwql+p+-0
for White in practice. With the pairing Shirov-Ganguly at the 7th round of the Canadian Open two experts were 9-+n+p+-+0
facing eachother and the outcome was an amazingly one-sided affair. Is Black finally busted in this line? Instead
9+-+-zPn+-0
of Khalifman’s solid repertoire suggestion 13.¤xc3 a6 14.¤e2 Shirov went for 13.£xc3 and displayed a fantastic
rook manoeuvre with 17.¦b4!, 18.¦c4! and 22.¦xc6! unstripping the Black king. This is a serious improvement
9-+Rzp-zP-+0
over the previous 17.g4 played in Volokitin-Ganguly, Moscow 2007. The first new move 20...f6 is simply losing
9zP-+Q+-+-0
by force. In fact the Correspondence Database is a most useful source of information in this case, since many 9-+P+N+PzP0
sharp attempts by Black like 16...f6 17.g4 ¤h4 18.exf6 e5 have been systematically discussed over the years. 9+-vL-mKLtR-0
xiiiiiiiiy
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ChessVibes OPENINGS what’s hot and what’s not? No. 29, July 22, 2009
Photo: Stefan64, published under the Creative Commons GNU license
opening expert
Who: Ferenc Berkes
Born: August 8, 1985
Nationality: Hungary
Rating: 2647
Expertise: Natural playing style shown in mostly classical openings.
Why: The name Ferenc Berkes may not have the reputation his playing strength
deserves. The Hungarian is a true specialist on classical openings like
the Caro-Kann and the Queen’s Gambit Declined. In these lines he
is able to come up with fresh new computer ideas, which one couldn’t
have imagined 30 years ago. Playing with the white pieces he has a bit
more aggressive style, but at the same time doesn’t mind playing non-
theoretical openings like 1.d4 d5 2.¥f4. In the current game he comes
up with an fantastic new idea, which he definitely had prepared at home
already. It’s not clear up to which moment he had checked everything, but
as the moves played in the game aren’t all Rybka’s first choices, it clearly
indicates he has a great sense for attacking. A real masterpiece!
Key game: Berkes - Lysyj, Lake Sevan, July 17, 2009
1.d4 e6 2.c4 ¤f6 3.¤c3 ¥b4 4.f3 0–0 5.a3 Topalov-Leko, Dortmund 2002. Otherwise the bishop comes to e5 after taking
¥xc3+ 6.bxc3 ¤e8 7.e4 b6 8.¥d3 ¥a6 9.¤h3 11...f5 12.f4 h6 13.£h5! on f6.
¤c6 10.e5 ¤a5 The point of White’s previous move. 24.h4 ¥c6
XIIIIIIIIY 13...hxg5 24...¥e4 25.¥e2.
9r+-wqntrk+0 13...¥xc4 14.¥xc4 ¤xc4 15.h4! c5 16.£g6 hxg5 25.exf6 £xf6
9zp-zpp+pzpp0 17.hxg5 followed by 18.¦h7 and 19.£h5. 25...¦xf6 26.h5 and 27.¦h7 next.
9lzp-+p+-+0 14.fxg5 g6 26.£g3 ¥e8 27.h5 ¤b3 28.¦h7 1-0
9sn-+-zP-+-0 14...£e7 15.g6 ¤f6 16.exf6 gxf6 17.0–0. XIIIIIIIIY
15.£xg6+ ¤g7 16.£h6 £e7 17.g6 ¤e8 18.0–0 9r+-+ltrk+0
9-+PzP-+-+0 £g7 19.£g5
9zP-zPL+P+N0 9zp-zp-+-+R0
Now it’s Black’s task to meet the threat of the 9-zp-zppwqP+0
9-+-+-+PzP0 rook shift ¦f3-h3-h7.
9tR-vLQmK-+R0 9+-+-+p+P0
19...¤b3 20.¦f3!
xiiiiiiiiy Playing in true King’s Indian style.
9-+PzP-vL-+0
11.¤g5! 20...¤xa1 21.¦h3 ¤f6
9zPnzPL+-wQ-0
A great new attacking idea. 11.£e2 f6 12.0–0 21...¤b3 22.¦h7 ¤xc1 23.£h5 ¤f6 24.exf6 9-+-+-+P+0
c5 13.¥e3 ¦c8 14.¦ac1 d5 15.¤f4 ¤c7 16.exf6 £xf6 25.¦xd7 £h8 26.¦h7 £f6 27.g7 £xg7 9+-+-+-mK-0
£xf6 17.cxd5 ¥xd3 18.£xd3 cxd4 19.cxd4 28.¦xg7+ ¢xg7 29.£g5+. xiiiiiiiiy
¤xd5 20.¤xd5 exd5 and a draw was agreed in 22.¦h6 ¥b7 23.¥f4 d6 and resigned in view of 29.¥g5. 1–0
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