CVO_034.pdf

No. 34, August 26, 2009

OPENINGS

WHAT’S HOT AND WHAT’S NOT?

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Another pure

King’s Indian

By IM Merijn van Delft & IM Robert Ris

Frequency

Ivanchuk won the 5th FIDE Grand Prix in Jermuk, while

Aronian secured overall victory. Kramnik came irst in

the Champions Rapid in Zurich. Smeets and Svidler are

leading their teams in Amsterdam and Tkachiev is the

new French Champion; Vachier-Lagrave inished 2nd.

WHAT’S HOT?

Score

Throughout the tournament in Jermuk Ivanchuk stayed away from main

lines and showed his flexibility in the opening by varying between 1.e4,

1.d4, 1.¤f3 and 1.c4 as White. Aronian finished on a stunning 5.5 out of 6

as White and managed to repair his black repertoire. Both giants seemed

to use the opening mainly to get interesting positions and tried to decide

the game in a later stage.

Leko-Aronian was a tough battle between the World ’ s two biggest Marshall

experts. The 8.d4 Anti-Marshall remains a interesting practical choice,

as long as White is ready for the transposition 8...d6 9.c3. It was quite

surprising to see opening purist Kramnik playing the Scandinavian twice,

even if it was only rapid.

Last week the Semi-Slav was in trouble, but it was repaired quickly

enough, not the least because of Gelfand ’ s efforts. Van Wely-Smeets was

an interesting fight in the 4...dxc4 Slav. The heavy weight pairing Topalov-

Kramnik saw a Catalan decided in Black ’ s favour. Our Game of the Week is

another razor-sharp King ’ s Indian. In the diagram position Nakamura went

for the provocative 9...¤e8. Ponomariov has been extremely succesful

with the English Defence lately, but possibly we have found a refutation.

Source: Megabase + TWIC, 2500+ only

Gelfand crowned a strong finish in Jermuk by beating Leko in the last round, who has a growing record of last-round failures. In the Queen’s

Indian it was again the modern pawn sacrifice we’ve been following in CVO from the start that put Black under pressure. After 1.e4 the

Berlin Wall endgame was suffering this week, and the Caro-Kann was seriously tested by

4.¤d2!? in the Advance Variation (see Svidler-Nakamura). Smeets wiped out Ljubojevic’

Sicilian by following the example of another young Dutch grandmaster (see PGN).

WHAT’S NOT?

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

No. 34, August 26, 2009

Fearlessly attacking with the King’s Indian

Only a week ago we summed up the current attractions to play the King’s Indian. The instant

classic Gelfand-Nisipeanu (see CVO 24) now has a worthy follow-up: Beliavsky-Nakamura.

This time around White was indeed checkmated.

GAME OF THE WEEK

Beliavsky, A (2662) - Nakamura, H (2710)

NH Chess Tournament, August 12, 2009

E97, King’s Indian, 9.¤d2 ¤e8

e4!) 23...£h4 24.h3 e4! 25.¥xc5 ¥xh3! strongly

reminds of Gelfand-Nisipeanu; 22.£c2?! gxh2+

23.¢xh2 ¤g3 24.¤xa8 (24.d6 £h4+ 25.¢g1 e4!

26.¥xc5 ¥xa1) 24...e4! 25.¥xc5 £h4+ 26.¢g1

e3 27.¥xe3 ¥f5 with a devastating attack, for

example 28.£a2 (28.£d1 fxe3 29.¤xe3 ¥e5

30.¦e1 ¤e4; 28.£d2 ¥c3!) 28...fxe3 29.¤xe3

¤f4–+; White ’ s best chance is 22.fxe4! and after

the forced sequence 22...£h4 23.h3 ¥xh3!

24.gxh3 £xh3 25.¦f2 gxf2+ 26.¢xf2 £g3+

27.¢f1 £h3+ 28.¢e1 £c3+ 29.£d2! (29.¤d2?!

£g3+ leads to perpetual.) 29...£xa1+ 30.¥d1

White has the better chances, as his pieces are

better coordinated. Needless to say this was

tough to see over the board.

22...¥xe6 23.dxe6 gxh2+

23...£h4? makes no sense anymore, because

of 24.h3.

24.¢xh2 £h4+ 25.¢g1 ¤g3 26.¥xc5 e4!

Again the typical opening of the long diagonal.

27.¦a4?!

Now Black is able to set up a brilliant trick.

The prophylactical 27.¦a2 (overprotecting the

bishop) was called for and after 27...e3 28.¤xe3

fxe3 29.¥xe3 ¤f4 30.¥c4 £h1+ 31.¢f2 ¤e4+

32.fxe4 (32.¢e1? £h4+) 32...£xg2+ 33.¢e1

¥c3+ 34.¦d2 £g3+ 35.¥f2 Black would

have nothing better than repeating moves by

35...¤g2+ 36.¢e2 ¤f4+.

27...¦c8 28.¥xa7?

Necessary was 28.e7 exf3 29.¥xf3 (29.£d5+?!

¢h8 30.£xf3 ¤xe7 31.¥xa7 ¤ef5) 29...¤xe7

30.¥xa7 b5! although White remains under

pressure.

28...b5! 29.¦b4

The point of the previous move was that 29.axb6

failed to 29...¥d4+ 30.£xd4 ¤xe2#.

29...bxc4 30.¥xc4 £h1+?!

Black is winning anyway, but Nakamura missed

an easier win with 30...e3! 31.e7+ ¢h8 32.£d8+

¢h7 (32...¦xd8?? 33.exd8£+ £xd8 34.¦b8)

33.¥g8+ ¢h6.

31.¢f2 e3+ 32.¥xe3 fxe3+ 33.¢xe3

33.¢xg3 £h4#.

33...¤xf1+ 34.¥xf1 £g1+ 0–1

but a couple of games showed us that Black has

good practical chances then. 18.¥xc5 g4 19.b6

(19.£c2 ¤d7 20.¥a3 g3 21.¦fd1 £h4 22.h3

¤f6 23.d6 ¤h7 24.dxc7? (24.¥f1!?) 24...¥xh3

25.gxh3 ¤g5 26.¦d8+ ¢h7 27.¥d1 £xh3

28.£e2 ¤h4 29.¦a2 ¦xc7 0–1 Chuchelov-

Naiditsch, Senden 1998) 19...g3 (19...¥f8)

20.¢h1 ¤e8!? (20...¤h7 21.d6 £h4 22.¥g1

¥h3 23.bxc7?? (23.gxh3! £xh3 24.¦f2 gxf2

25.¥xf2 axb6 26.¤d5±) 23...¥xg2+ 24.¢xg2

£h3+ 25.¢xh3 ¤g5+ 26.¢g2 ¤h4+ 0–1

Ftacnik-Cvitan, Germany 1997) 21.bxc7 ¦xc7

22.¥g1 ¥f8 23.d6 ¦g7 24.£d5+ ¢h7 25.¤xe5

¤f6 26.£d4 ¤xe5 27.£xe5 ¥xd6 Babula-

Polzin, Austria 2004.

18...g4

It ’ s not such a great idea helping White to

open up the queenside with 18...axb6? as after

19.axb6 cxb6 20.£b3 ¤d7 21.¤b5 White is

ahead in the attack.

19.bxc7 ¦xc7 20.¤b5 g3!

Practical play is required, as keeping the

material with 20...¦f7 gives White the chance

to eliminate Black ’ s key attacking piece (¥c8)

with 21.¤bd6 with an overwhelming advantage.

21.¤xc7 ¤xe4

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22.¤e6?!

A human decision to limit the power of the

white-squared bishop, but probably not best.

Typically 22.¤xa8? £h4 23.h3 ¥xh3! leads to

mate soon; 22.¥d3?! ¤c3 23.£b3 (23.¤xa8

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.¤d2

Nowadays Beliavsky mainly plays this system

against the KID, while in the 1980s he was

one of the exponents of the Sämisch (5.f3).

9...¤e8?!

According to established theory Black better

takes some prepatory measures on the

queenside, before seizing space on the other

wing. 9...a5 10.a3 ¥d7 (Threatening 11...a4;

10...¤d7 11.¦b1 f5 is possible as well.) 11.b3 c6

is considered to be the main reply to the 9.¤d2

system. A recent game went 12.¦a2 (12.¥b2

¥h6) 12...£b8 13.¦c2 ¦c8 14.¤db1 cxd5

15.cxd5 b5 16.b4 a4 17.£d3 ¤h5 18.¥xh5 gxh5

19.¥g5 ¤g6 with mutual chances in Gelfand-

Radjabov, Bazna 2009.

10.b4 f5 11.c5 ¤f6 12.f3 f4 13.¤c4 g5 14.a4

¤g6 15.¥a3 ¦f7 16.a5

This has all been seen before. In a previous

game, ‘Big Al’ played 16.b5 ¤e8?! (A weird move

in combination with 15...¦f7, as 16...¥f8 with the

idea of 17...¦g7 makes more sense. But clearly

best is 16...dxc5! 17.¥xc5 h5 with a transposition

to the notes after 18.¥xc5.) 17.a5 ¥f8 18.¤a4

h5 19.b6 ¥d7 20.bxc7 £xc7 21.a6 bxa6 22.c6±

Beliavsky-Solak, Saint Vincent 2000.

16...h5 17.b5 dxc5

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18.b6!?

The first new move, played after a long thought.

Previously White immediately took back on c5,

BELIAVSKY - NAKAMURA

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

No. 34, August 26, 2009

THIS WEEK’S HARVEST

Semi-Slav

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1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.¤f3 ¤f6 4.¤c3 e6 5.e3 ¤bd7 6.¥d3 dxc4 7.¥xc4 b5

8.¥d3 ¥b7 9.a3 ¥d6 10.0–0 0–0 11.£c2 £e7 12.e4 e5 13.¥g5 ¦fe8

Typically the Semi-Slav was only played at the highest level this week and with four draws and two wins Black

hit back big time after last week ’ s desasterous results. Therefore an update is needed. In the Moscow Variation

(5.¥g5 h6 6.¥xf6) Cheparinov showed some fine home preparation, fine-tuning a known piece sacrifice. 6.£c2

was rather colourless as Smeets comfortably drew Svidler and Aronian even missed a win against Akopian.

6.¥d3 met an even tougher fate. In round 10 Gelfand went for what we called line B last week and after

Cheparinov ’ s insipid novelty 19.£d2 continued to win a good game. In line A Black also found the necessary

improvements. In round 11 Kasimdzhanov-Leko saw 20...£d6! soon followed by a perpetual, improving over

last week ’ s Kasimdzhanov-Aronian. In round 12 Gelfand followed our suggestion 11...£e7 12.e4 e5 against

Kasimdzhanov, and whereas we noted 13.¤e2 ¦fe8!?, 13.¥g5 ¦fe8!? worked out perfectly for Black in the game.

Slav, 9.¤h4

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1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.¤f3 ¤f6 4.¤c3 dxc4 5.a4 ¥f5 6.e3 e6 7.¥xc4 ¥b4 8.0–0 ¤bd7 9.¤h4 ¥g4 10.f3 ¥h5 11.g4 g5!?

Subscribers of the first hour will certainly remember the game Van Wely-Smeets (see CVO 3), where the

latter surprised his opponent by uncorking a strong novelty to save the Botwinnik Semi-Slav. During the NH

tournament, things haven ’ t changed much as Smeets deviated with the more solid 4...dxc4, before coming up

with the aggressive new move 11...g5!? which he had studied together with his second GM Vallejo. Van Wely

fell into a deep think, but later he declared he simply couldn ’ t remember his analysis. Being not entirely sure, he

offered his fellow countryman a draw on move 21, which the reigning Dutch champion rejected as he still was in

his preparation! Objectively speaking, Smeets didn ’ t have a better position at any stage, but the nice outpost for

his knight on e6 guaranteed sufficient counterplay against the weak pawn on d4. When both White ’ s rooks finally

reached the 7th rank, Black had already collected the central pawns so there was nothing better than giving

perpetual. Some possible improvements may be found in 12.¤f5, 13.f4 or 19.¦a3.

Open Catalan

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1.d4 ¤f6 2.c4 e6 3.¤f3 d5 4.g3 dxc4 5.¥g2 c6 6.¤e5 ¥b4+ 7.¥d2 £xd4 8.¥xb4 £xe5 9.¤d2

Is it just coincidence or pure chess psychology to challenge your main rival with his own speciality? Probably it ’ s

the latter, although it may be not the wisest decision. The system with 5...c6 implies that Black is ready to enter

sharp complications, which can also arise from the Slav opening. After 6.¤e5 Black goes in for the critical test by

taking another central pawn. Somehow, we are really curious why Topalov refrained from playing 9.¤a3. In his

excellent book, Israeli GM Avrukh provides extensive analysis, which includes the strong novelty 18.¦ae1. In the

game Topalov tried differently with 9.¤d2, keeping the way open for the a-pawn to undermine the queenside.

Kramnik defended very coolly by playing 13...¢e7, protecting everything and only then bringing his king into

safety. After correctly exchanging the knight for his bishop, the former World Champion brought the full point

home, even though he missed some simpler wins. 15.0–0 and the cunning 17.¦a6 are possible improvements,

but certainly not leading to a clear advantage for White. A fine Catalan lesson by the master himself.

English Defence

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1.d4 e6 2.c4 b6 3.e4 ¥b7 4.¥d3 ¤c6 5.¤e2 ¤b4 6.¤bc3 ¤xd3+ 7.£xd3 ¤e7 8.0–0 d6 9.d5 £d7 10.a4 a5 11.¤b5 g6

The English Defence (defined by 1.d4 e6 2.c4 b6!?) is an underestimated and very ambitious reply to 1.d4.

Amongst others it was the late Anthony Miles who popularized it in the 1970s. Hannes Langrock has recently

written six instructive articles about it on ChessCafe.com. Lately Ponomariov has taken up this counter

attacking line with great success. His first victim was Eljanov, then Ajrapetjan, this week Karpov was beaten

and only Kramnik escaped with a lucky draw. Black ’ s counter attacking concept includes moves like ¥b4, f5!

and £h4!. There is room for creativity as a manoeuvre like ¤h6-f5 proves. It should be noted that Black has to

be ready to play the French Defence after 2.e4. Still, Kramnik may have been on to something serious against

Ponomariov until he seemed to lose track in the diagram position with 12.£c3. Instead, the natural 12.¥e3 sets

a nasty trap: 12...¥g7 13.dxe6 fxe6 14.¥xb6! is very good for White. Also after 12...e5 13.f4 ¥g7 14.fxe5 ¥xe5

15.¥d4 Black seems to be in trouble.

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

No. 34, August 26, 2009

OPENING EXPERT

Who: Vladislav Tkachiev

Born: November 9, 1973

Nationality: France

Rating: 2650

Expertise: White: g3 systems against KID and Grunfeld, Black: Spanish,

Archangelsk

Why: Whether calling him Vlad or Mr. Cool, people will immediately recognize

we’re talking about Tkachiev. Before the Russian-born GM moved to

Cannes, he played in the 1992 and 1994 Olympiads for Kazakhstan.

These days we don’t see him often in the open tournament circuit, but

rather in some leagues, blitz and rapid events. As he expressed various

times, he prefers to play with shorter time controls as he possesses a

very strong natural intuition and generally plays his best chess under

(time) pressure. His opening repertoire is quite small, but on the other

hand he knows his lines perfectly. Always striving for the initiative, Vlad

is a very dangerous opponent for everyone, but sometimes his

calculating abilities let him down.

Key game: Tkachiev - Edouard, French Ch (Nimes), August 20, 2009

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cut on the back rank. Though, Black ’ s defensive

task remains very unpleasant, if not hopeless.

29.¦d8+ ¦e8 30.¦dd7 h5 31.¦a7 ¢g8 32.¦xa6

h4 33.¦d4 ¦ge5 34.¦g4+ ¢f7 35.¦a7+ ¢e6

36.¦xh4 ¦c8 37.¦a6+ ¢f7 38.¦h6?

Stronger is 38.¢g3!.

38...¦f5! 39.¦h7+ ¢g6 40.¦e7 ¦h8 41.¦aa7

¦xh2+ 42.¢e3 ¦c5 43.b3 ¦cc2 44.¦ab7

¦he2+ 45.¢f4 ¦xe7 46.¦xe7 ¦xa2 47.¦b7 ¦b2

48.¦xb5 ¦b1 49.¦b7 ¦b2 50.b4 ¦b1 51.¦b5

¦h1 52.¢e4 ¦e1+ 53.¢d5 ¦e3 54.¦c5 ¦xf3

55.¢c6 f5 56.b5 ¦b3 57.b6 ¢g5??

A horrible blunder. Black should have pushed

the pawn immediately: 57...f4 58.b7 f3 with an

obvious draw.

58.b7 ¦xb7 59.¢xb7 ¢f4 60.¢c6 ¢e4 61.¦c4+!

An important check.

61...¢e5 62.¢c5 f4 63.¦c1 ¢e4 64.¢c4 ¢e3

65.¢c3 ¢e2 66.¢d4 1–0

1.d4 d5 2.¤f3 ¤f6 3.c4 dxc4 4.e3 e6 5.¥xc4

c5 6.£e2 a6 7.dxc5 ¥xc5 8.0–0 ¤c6 9.e4 b5

10.¥b3 ¤d4 11.¤xd4 £xd4 12.¥e3 £xe4?!

A very risky line. Black better stays away from

the pawn: 12...£e5 13.¥xc5 £xc5 14.¤c3 ¥b7

15.¦ac1 ¦c8 16.£d2 £b4 17.e5 ¤g4 18.£g5

0–0 19.h3 ¤h6 20.¤e2 ¤f5 21.¦xc8 ¦xc8

22.¦d1 h6 23.£g4 £e4 24.£xe4 and a draw

was agreed in Svidler-Dominguez Perez, Foros

2007.

13.¤d2 £f5 14.g4 £e5 15.¤f3 £e4 16.¤g5

£c6

16...£e5 17.£f3 ¥xe3 18.£xa8 0–0 19.¤xf7!.

17.¦ac1 ¥b7 18.f3 ¥xe3+ 19.£xe3 £d6

20.¤xe6!

The only move to justify the white setup. The

Black king will be stuck in the center.

20...fxe6 21.¥xe6 ¢f8 22.¦fd1 £e7 23.g5 ¦e8

24.gxf6 £xe6?

A losing novelty! 24...gxf6 25.¦e1! ¦g8+ 26.¢f1

¦g5 27.£b6 ¦e5 28.¦xe5 fxe5 29.¥g4± had

been played before.

25.£xe6?

25.£a3+! wins.

25...¦xe6 26.¦c7 gxf6 27.¦xb7 ¦g8+ 28.¢f2

¦g5

Black has placed both his rooks actively, and

this seems to compensate for the fact his king is

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:

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