openings 142 | September 21n 2011
what’s hot and what’s not?
XIIIIIIIIY
Opening preparation 9r+l+kvlntr0
9+-+p+pzpp0
alone is not enough
9pwqn+p+-+0
9+p+-+-+-0
9-+-+P+-+0
9+-sNL+N+-0
9PzPP+-zPPzP0
By IM Merijn van Delft & IM Robert Ris
9tR-vLQ+RmK-0
xiiiiiiiiy
Svidler won the World Cup. We cover the Grischuk- Frequency
Ivanchuk semi-final tiebreak and the Svidler-Grischuk
final. We also have news from events that include the
St. Petersburg-Moscow match and the European Youth
Championship.
Score
what’shot?
In the decisive game of the semi-final Grischuk drew with Ivanchuk from
the black side of a Reti Opening. Our Game of the Week is the first game
of the Grischuk-Svidler match. White won the theoretical discussion in
a Paulsen Sicilian (after Black went for 8...£b8 in the diagram position),
but Black the game and with it the World Cup. Svidler drew his white
games and his remaining black game using the 3...¥c5 Ruy Lopez (see
PGN). In the battle for third place Ivanchuk beat Ponomariov with Black
in the Vienna Variation.
Hou Yifan continues to play interesting 1.e4 games. At the Women's
GP in Shenzhen she played 6.f4 against Ju Wenjun's Najdorf and
9.g4 against Cmilyte's Dragon. At the showdown of the European U18
Championship the Dragon played a crucial role as well (see below). In
Sveshnikov-Brunello Black managed to win the Panov Endgame with
ambitious play (see below).
Source: Megabase + TWIC, 2500+ only
When Kasparov returns to the chessboard, even when it's only for a
few blitz games, it's always interesting to check out his handling of the
opening. With White he beat Vachier Lagrave with the 3.¥b5+ Sicilian
(see p.4) and with Black he drew (from a winning position) with the
Closed Ruy Lopez.
The French Defense was not hot this week, with Black losing three high profile encounters. Grischuk beat Ivanchuk twice with the
Advance Variation, which seems to be a new trend (compare CVO 140). Morozevich beat French expert Vitiugov with a virtually new
variation in the razor sharp ...£c7 variation of the French Winawer (see below). The French is an ever
more dynamic opening though and we expect Black to find solutions for the current problems. what’snot?
1 of 4
openings what’s hot and what’s not? 142 | September 21n 2011
A heavy Paulsen discussion
If you only went by the result you might think Svidler did an excellent job with the Paulsen
Sicilian, but in fact Grischuk played a strong theoretical novelty to get a winning position, only
to spoil it completely in time trouble afterwards.
gameoftheweek Grischuk - Svidler
Grischuk,A (2746)-Svidler,P (2739) opted for 10.a4 though after 10...b4 11.¤b1 in combination with a dangerous initiative along
World Cup (Khanty-Mansiysk), 16.09.2011 ¤ge7 12.¤bd2 ¤g6 13.¤c4 ¥c7 14.a5 ¤ge5 the dark squares should offer White ample
B43: Sicilian, Paulsen 15.¤fxe5 a draw was agreed in Sokolov,A- compensation.
Landa, France 2002. Black has a firm grip over 20.¤xf7 ¢xf7 21.¤g5+ ¢g8
1.e4 c5 2.¤f3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.¤xd4 a6 5.¤c3 the central dark squares. The best square for the ¢ to retreat. Less
The more flexible 5.¥d3 is White's main option 10...¥c7 appealing is 21...¢e7 in view of 22.¤xh7 £g8
here; see CVO 100 and 101. The pawn on e5 is poisoned, which is illustrated 23.¤g5 £f8 24.£e4 £f5 25.£c6 when Black's
5...b5 6.¥d3 £b6 7.¤f3 by the following lines: 10...¤xe5? 11.¤xe5 ¥xe5 position becomes more suspicious.
In this line White aims to exploit Black's 12.¦xe5! £xe5 13.£f3 d5 (13...¦a7 14.¥f4 22.¤xe6 £c8 23.£g4 ¦a7!
weaknesses on the dark squares and hence £c5 15.£g3 and Black has serious problems Attempting to bring the ¦ into play via the 7th
tries to push the e-pawn. The other main defending the dark squares. 13...£e1+ 14.¥f1 rank. Less accurate is 23...£d7 24.¦d1 £e7
moves are 7.¤b3 and 7.¥e3. d5 is hardly better, because of 15.£g3! ¤e7 25.f4 and Black can't make best use of the extra
7...¤c6 8.0–0 8...£b8 16.¦b1! and the £ is trapped on e1.) 14.¥f4 piece.
During the last Olympiad, Kamsky twice went £f6 15.£g3 h5 16.¤xd5 exd5 17.¦e1+ ¢d7 XIIIIIIIIY
for 8...¤ge7 9.a4 (9.¥e3 £c7 10.¥xb5! and (17...¥e6 18.¥g5 £xb2 19.£d6 is crushing.) 9-+q+-+k+0
Black was just a pawn down in Sutovsky- 18.¥e5 £d8 (18...£e7 19.¥c3 £d8 20.£xg7 9tr-vl-+-zpp0
Kamsky, Khanty-Mansiysk 2010, because and Black collapses.) 19.c4! bxc4 (19...dxc4 9psn-+N+n+0
the ¥ can't be taken: 10...axb5 11.¤xb5 20.¥e4+–) 20.¥xc4 ¤e7 and despite being a
9+p+-zP-+-0
£b8 12.¤d6+ ¢d8 13.¤xf7++–) 9...b4 10.a5 full ¦ down, White retains a powerful initiative
£c7 11.¤a4 ¤xa5 12.¥e3 ¦b8 13.¤c5 ¤g6 after 21.¥b3!.
9-+-+-+Q+0
14.¤xa6 ¥xa6 15.¥xa6 ¤c6 (15...¥c5!? might 11.¥f4 ¤ge7 12.£e2 ¤g6
9+-+-+-vL-0
be an improvement.) 16.£d2 ¥e7 17.¦fd1 d6 12...0–0? would be a terrible mistake as it can 9PzPP+-zPPzP0
18.c4 0–0 19.¥b5 with a stable edge for White in be met by 13.¥xh7+! ¢xh7 14.¤g5+ ¢g6 9+-+-tR-mK-0
Socko-Kamsky, Khanty-Mansiysk 2010. 15.£g4 with a crushing attack for White. xiiiiiiiiy
9.¦e1 ¥d6 13.¥g3 ¥b7 14.¦ad1 ¤ce7 24.¦d1?
An important alternative is 9...¤ge7 10.¥e3 14...0–0 15.¥xg6 hxg6 16.¦xd7 doesn't give 24.f4? is no longer an option, because of the
(10.e5 ¥b7 11.¥e4 £c7 12.¥f4 f5 13.exf6 Black sufficient compensation for the pawn. dirty trick 24...¥xe5! 25.fxe5 ¦e7–+. White's best
£xf4 14.fxe7 ¥xe7 15.£d3 0–0–0 with mutual 15.¥e4! move is 24.h3! when after 24...¤a4 25.¤xc7
chances in Carlsen-Kulaots, Gausdal 2005.) White exchanges Black's strongest piece and £xg4 26.hxg4 ¦xc7 27.e6 he should be able to
10...d6 11.£d2 ¤g6 12.¤d4 ¤xd4 13.¥xd4 more importantly removes the ¥ from the d-file put up more resistance.
¤e5 14.f4 ¤c6 15.¥f2 ¥e7 16.¤d5! with a to attack Black's backward pawn on d7. 24...¤a4 25.h3?
powerful initiative for White in Grischuk-Smirin, 15...¥xe4 16.¤xe4 0–0 17.¦xd7 ¤d5 18.¤d6? Grischuk further loses track. Absolutely
New Delhi 2000. A first step in the wrong direction. There was necessary is 25.b3 though after 25...¤c5
10.e5! also nothing to be gained from 18.¤fg5 h6 26.£d4 £xe6 27.£xc5 ¦b7 it's obvious that
XIIIIIIIIY 19.¤xe6 fxe6 20.£g4 £e8 21.¦xc7 ¤xc7 Black's chances are preferable.
9rwql+k+ntr0 22.¤d6 ¤xe5 23.¥xe5 £e7 and Black easily 25...¤xb2 26.¦d5?
9+-+p+pzpp0 holds. White's best option is 18.£d3! £b7 The decisive mistake. More stubborn would
9p+nvlp+-+0 (18...£c8 19.¦xd5 exd5 20.£xd5 and with two have been 26.¤xc7 ¦xc7 (but not 26...£xg4?
pawns for the exchange White has more than 27.¦d8+ ¤f8 28.hxg4 ¦xc7 29.e6! and White
9+p+-zP-+-0
sufficient compensation for the exchange.) even wins.) 27.¦d6 ¤c4 28.£xc8+ ¦xc8
9-+-+-+-+0 19.¤c3 ¦fd8 20.¦xd8+ ¦xd8 21.¤xd5 ¦xd5 29.¦xa6 ¤gxe5 although Black's position
9+-sNL+N+-0 22.£e4 and White is just a healthy pawn up. remains technically winning.
9PzPP+-zPPzP0 18...¤b6 19.¦xf7 ¦xf7 26...¥b6 27.¦d6 ¤c4 28.£f5 ¦f7 29.£e4
9tR-vLQtR-mK-0 Another critical line is 19...¥xd6 20.¦xg7+ ¤xd6 30.exd6 ¤f8 and since he's a full ¦ down
xiiiiiiiiy ¢xg7 21.exd6 when the four pawns for the ¦ White decided to abandon the fight. 0–1
A strong novelty. Previously White has mainly
2 of 4
openings what’s hot and what’s not? 142 | September 21n 2011
thisweek’sharvest
Sicilian, Dragon 1.e4 c5 2.¤f3 ¤c6 3.d4 cxd4 4.¤xd4 g6 5.¤c3 ¥g7 6.¥e3 ¤f6 7.¥c4 0–0 8.¥b3 d6 9.f3 ¥d7 10.£d2 ¦c8 11.0–0–0 ¤e5 12.¢b1
XIIIIIIIIY ¤c4 13.¥xc4 ¦xc4 14.g4 b5 15.b3 b4! 16.bxc4 bxc3 17.£xc3 £c7 18.h4 ¦b8+ 19.¢c1 ¥a4 20.h5 ¤d7 21.hxg6 hxg6 22.¦d2
9-tr-+-+k+0 After board one in the last round of the U18 European Championship was relatively quickly drawn, Ten Hertog
9zp-wqnzppvl-0 (Netherlands) had the chance to become European Champion by beating Kanarek (Poland). Black went for
9-+-zp-+p+0 the exchange sacrifice that was recently played in Bok-Cheparinov (see CVO 134). 18.h4 was the logical
9+-+-+-+-0 improvement suggested by Bok via Facebook during the Dutch preparation for this important game, while Ten
Hertog was already asleep. We didn't have time to work this out in detail, since a large number of different
9l+PsNP+P+0
opening lines had to be prepared in a limited amount of time. 22.¦d2! is a great way of preparing the doubling
9+-wQ-vLP+-0 of rooks on the h-file, found by Ten Hertog over the board. An important tactical detail is that in several lines
9P+PtR-+-+0 Black doesn't have a check along the c1–h6 diagonal. With 23.¦dh2?? Ten Hertog dramatically went astray,
9+-mK-+-+R0 exchanging down into an endgame which was slightly more pleasant for Black, and ultimately losing. With
xiiiiiiiiy 23.¥h6! White can start a winning attack. See the PGN file for some good fireworks.
1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.¤f3 ¥g4 5.c4 ¤f6 6.¤c3 ¤c6 7.cxd5 ¤xd5 8.£b3 ¥xf3 9.gxf3 Caro-Kann, Panov
e6 10.£xb7 ¤xd4 11.¥b5+ ¤xb5 12.£c6+ ¢e7 13.£xb5 £d7 14.¤xd5+ exd5 15.£b3 ¢f6 XIIIIIIIIY
Several decades ago the Caro-Kann was often seen as a somewhat passive way of trying to neutralise White's 9r+-+-vl-tr0
opening initiative, hoping to draw the endgame. During the last ten years especially it's become clear that the 9zp-+q+pzpp0
Caro-Kann can be an excellent way to play for a win, which has inspired even players like Topalov and Morozevich 9-+-+-mk-+0
to try it every now and then. A serious question is whether Black can also create that kind of counterplay against 9+-+p+-+-0
the Panov Variation, which usually either sees White get active play in a thematic isolated d-pawn position or
9-+-+-+-+0
the slightest of edges in the Panov Endgame after 5...¤c6 6.¤f3 ¥g4. This week in Sveshnikov-Brunello it
was shown that Black can try 14...exd5 (instead of the standard 14...£xd5) 15.£b3 ¢f6! leading to the diagram
9+Q+-+P+-0
position. The truly modern feature is that the black ¢ turns out to be safe enough on the sixth rank, while White's
9PzP-+-zP-zP0
¢ is not entirely safe either. Instead of a boring endgame we get an interesting middlegame, where Black has 9tR-vL-mK-+R0
the healthier pawn structure. xiiiiiiiiy
French, Winawer 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.¤c3 ¥b4 4.e5 c5 5.a3 ¥xc3+ 6.bxc3 ¤e7 7.£g4 cxd4 8.£xg7 ¦g8
XIIIIIIIIY 9.£xh7 £c7 10.¦b1 £xe5+ 11.¤e2 dxc3 12.h4 d4 13.h5 ¤bc6 14.h6 f5 15.¥f4 £f6 16.¤g3
9r+l+k+r+0 Morozevich is well-known for his creative handling of the openings, but it doesn't often happen that he
9zpp+-sn-+Q0 introduces a completely new approach to one of the most extensively analyzed positions of the French Winawer.
9-+n+pwq-zP0 Whereas nowadays 10.¤e2 is played almost automatically by everyone, the Russian GM came up with the
9+-+-+p+-0 rather surprising 10.¦b1. White simply puts his ¦ on the open file and so solves the problem of a possible double
attack on c3. After 10...£xe5 11.¤e2 dxc3 White has given up his usual massive centre and thus has to seek
9-+-zp-vL-+0
chances by pushing his h-pawn. In the diagram position White's £ is trapped in the corner, though Black is
9zP-zp-+-sN-0 unable to catch Her Majesty since 16...¦h8 can be met by 17.¤h5! In general, Black should be able to neutralize
9-+P+-zPP+0 White's attempt with accurate play (14...¦g6!?), but the present game is a perfect illustration of the dangers of
9+R+-mKL+R0 Black's setup. By opting for 10.¦b1 White aims to sidestep massive home preparation and instead anticipates
xiiiiiiiiy an uncompromising battle. Definitely a dangerous surprise weapon!
1.c4 e6 2.¤c3 d5 3.d4 c6 4.¤f3 ¤f6 5.¥g5 dxc4 6.e4 b5 7.e5 h6 8.¥h4 g5 9.¤xg5 hxg5 Semi-Slav, Botvinnik
10.¥xg5 ¥e7 11.exf6 ¥xf6 12.¥e3 ¥b7 13.¥e2 ¤a6 14.a4 ¤b4 15.0–0 a6 16.¤e4 ¥e7 17.b3 XIIIIIIIIY
In CVO 93, Vallejo's special treatment of the Botvinnik with 10...¥e7 worked out well and led to a crushing 9r+-wqk+-tr0
attacking victory for Black in 20 moves. This week Morozevich decided to breathe some new life into this 9+l+-vlp+-0
variation as well, though his opponent Vitiugov was the first one to deviate from that game. 12.¥e3 was covered 9p+p+p+-+0
in the previously mentioned issue as well, though White's 13.¥e2 seems to be a more modest approach than the 9+p+-+-+-0
13.£f3 which caught our attention back then. Morozevich quickly brought his ¤ into play via a6 to b4 and in the
9PsnpzPN+-+0
diagram position he could have crowned his strategy by opening the long diagonal for his light-squared ¥ with
the thematic thrust 17...c5! One of the points is revealed after 18.¤xc5 ¥xc5 19.dxc5 £h4 20.£d6 when Black
9+P+-vL-+-0
still has the amazing shot 20...¥xg2! In the game White succeeded in consolidating his kingside with moves
9-+-+LzPPzP0
like 25.g3, 26.¥f1 and 28.¥g2 after which Black's weaknesses on the dark squares proved to be fatal. Evidently 9tR-+Q+RmK-0
there's still scope for improvement for both sides. xiiiiiiiiy
3 of 4
openings what’s hot and what’s not? 142 | September 21n 2011
it’syourmove
XIIIIIIIIY XIIIIIIIIY
O 9r+-wq-trk+0 O 9r+-+k+-tr0
9+p+nzppvlp0 9+-+lzppvl-0
9p+nzp-+p+0 9p+-zp-sn-zp0
9+-zp-+-+-0 9+-zpPsn-zp-0
9-+-+P+-+0 9Pwq-+P+-+0
9+-zPPvLQ+P0 9tR-sN-+-+-0
9PzP-sN-zPP+0 9-zPQsNLzPPzP0
9tR-+-tRLmK-0 9+-vL-+RmK-0
xiiiiiiiiy xiiiiiiiiy
lastweek’ssolutions
XIIIIIIIIY
Polgar-Dominguez, World Cup (Khanty-Mansiysk), 2011 9r+r+-+k+0
Does Black have a bad ¥ on e7? Not at all, as the ¥ has a very bright future after the following key move: 9wq-+-vlpzpp0
20...¥d8! 21.¤g5 a5 22.¦f3 £e7 23.b3 a4 24.¦h3 g6 25.£c2 axb3 26.axb3 ¥b6 Now it’s clear that Black 9p+-zp-sn-+0
has the superior ¥. 27.¦f1 ¤g4 28.¤e4 f5 29.¦g3 ¤f6 30.¤xf6+ £xf6 31.¦d3 ¦c7 32.£c3 ¦ca7 33.¦d2 ¥d4 9+-+Pzp-+-0
34.£d3 ¦a1 35.g3 ¦xf1+ 36.¢xf1 ¥c5 37.¢g2 e4 38.£e2 ¦e8 Opposite coloured bishops favour the attacker
9-+L+-+-+0
and Dominguez went on to win with a direct attack: 39.f3 exf3+ 40.£xf3 ¦e3 41.£f1 £e5 42.£f4 £e7 43.¦a2
¦e1 44.b4 ¥e3 45.£f3 ¦g1+ 46.¢h3 £g5 0–1
9+-tR-+N+-0
9PzP-+QzPPzP0
9+-+R+-mK-0
XIIIIIIIIY xiiiiiiiiy
9-+-wqk+-tr0 Navara-Grischuk, World Cup (Khanty-Mansiysk), 2011
9+p+-+pzp-0 A typical Caro-Kann structure, though White has a small problem. At the moment the d4–square isn't entirely
9p+-+p+-zp0 under control, which allows Grischuk to seize the initiative. 15...d4! 16.£a4+?! 16.cxd4 ¤xd4 and the pawn
9+-trpzPn+-0 on e5 will become a target, while 17.f4 £b6 is quite unpleasant for White. 16...b5! 17.£xa6 ¦xe5+ 18.¢f1 0–0
19.¥xb5 dxc3 20.bxc3 £d2 21.¥e2 £xc3 and Black has regained his pawn and thus retains a dangerous
9-+-+-+-+0
inititiave. 22.¦e1 ¦d8 23.h4 ¤g3+ 24.fxg3 ¦f5+ 25.¢g1 £xe1+ and Black easily converted his material
9+-zPL+-+-0 advantage. 26.¢h2 £a5 27.£c4 £c5 28.£b3 ¦f2 29.¥f3 £c2 30.£b6 ¦f8 31.¥e4 £xa2 32.¦d1 ¦d2 33.¦f1
9PzP-+-zPPzP0 £b2 34.£c5 ¦dd8 35.£e7 £d4 36.¥b1 £d6 37.£b7 ¦b8 38.£e4 f5 39.£e3 ¦b4 40.¢h3 ¢h8 41.¥a2 ¦e4
9tR-+QmK-+R0 42.£f3 £e5 43.£a3 ¦b8 0–1
xiiiiiiiiy
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
for € 28 a year (that’s less than € 0.60 per issue!). More info can be found at ChessVibes.com/openings.
© 2009-2011 ChessVibes. Copyright exists on all original material published by ChessVibes. Any copying or distribution (reproduction, via print,
electronic format, or in any form whatsoever), as well as posting on the web, is strictly prohibited without prior written permission.
4 of 43
