CVO_133.pdf

No. 133, July 20, 2011

OPENINGS

WHAT'S HOT AND WHAT'S NOT?

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Avoiding the

Berlin Endgame

By IM Merijn van Delft & IM Robert Ris

Frequency

In this issue we take a look at the irst round of Biel

(with a good start by Carlsen), the irst two rounds

of the World Team Championship in Ningbo and the

irst two rounds of a new Chinese WGM tournament

in Hangzhou.

WHAT’S HOT?

Score

Kamsky avoided the main lines of the Ruy Lopez with 6.d3 against Aronian

and managed to win a good game. Simultaneously (independently!) 6.d3

was also tested in Karjakin-Leko. More on that below. White decided to

avoid the Berlin Endgame on quite a few occasions this week. The Scotch

was played in Nepomniachtchi-Onischuk and Howell-Van den Doel and

White won twice (see below). In our Game of the Week , Radjabov played

the Italian, producing a great attacking game. In the diagram position White

went for 6.¤bd2. Kamsky-Karjakin was a 4.d3 Anti-Berlin that ended in

a draw.

We've collected some Najdorf study material that can be found in the

PGN: Caruana-Vachier Lagrave (Poisoned Pawn Deferred), Hector-

Berg (6.¥g5 ¤bd7) and T.Kosintseva-Ju Wenjun (6.¥e3 ¤g4). Shirov-

Morozevich was a sharp poisoned pawn variation of the French Steinitz.

When Grischuk decides to play the Caro-Kann he usually does great with

it, and this time he beat Almasi. Mamedyarov seems to be in great shape,

allowing the Nimzo-Indian twice and winning both games: Mamedyarov-

Yu Yangyi (4...c5) and Mamedyarov-Ganguly (4...0-0 5.e4). The Grünfeld

is sufficiently hot to spend half of p.3 on it, showing the latest trends.

Source: Megabase + TWIC, 2500+ only

White is currently having problems proving anything in the Berlin Endgame. The only grandmaster game, Nabaty-Sargissian, ended in

a victory for Black. The ultimate truth is probably that this complex endgame is difficult for both sides to handle, with White starting off

with an edge. The thing is, however, that this edge can easily switch sides, and Black has

the practical advantage that he can decide which particular version of the endgame will be

under debate.

WHAT'S NOT?

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

No. 133, July 20, 2011

The violent Giuoco Piano

The easy-going Italian Game (‘Giuoco Piano’) allows both players to bring all the pieces into

the game peacefully, but as Radjabov showed, there’s no need for things to stay that way.

He went on to generate a very violent attack.

GAME OF THE WEEK

with no more than a minimal edge for White.

26...£d8 27.¦a3 ¤h7 28.¤hf5 ¤xf5 29.exf5

£f8?

A serious mistake, which accelerates the

process. However, the following lines illustrate

that Black has real problems anyway: 29...cxd5

30.cxd5 ¤f6 31.¥xh6! gxh6 32.¤h5! (32.£xh6?!

£f8! 33.£xf6 ¥d8) 32...¤xh5 33.£xh6 ¥b5

(33...£f6 is met by 34.¦g3+!) 34.¦ee3! with a

crushing attack.

29...£h4 can be answered with 30.¥a7! ¦a8

31.¦e4 £e7 32.¥e3 and White builds up a

strong attack, as 32...¤f6 fails to 33.¥xh6!

¤xe4 34.¥xe4 with a powerful initiative.

30.¤h5! ¥d8?!

Allowing White to break through on the kingside.

Absolutely necessary is 30...f6 though after

31.h4 Black is totally squeezed.

31.f6! ¥xf6

31...¤xf6 fails to 32.¤xg7! £xg7 (32...¢xg7

33.¥xh6+) 33.¥xh6 and the ¦ joins the attack

over the 3rd rank.

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32.¥xh6! £e7

32...gxh6 can be met by 33.¥xh7+ ¢xh7

34.¤xf6+ ¢g7 35.¤xd7 and White wins the ¦.

33.¥xg7! ¥g5

33...¥xg7 loses to 34.¦g3 f6 35.¦xg7+ (but not

35.£h6? ¤g5 and Black holds on) 35...£xg7

36.¤xg7 ¢xg7 37.¦e3 and wins.

34.f4 ¥h4 35.g3 ¤f6 36.fxe5 ¤xh5 37.£h6 f5

37...¤xg7 is met by 38.£h7+ ¢f8 39.£h8#.

38.£h8+ and Black resigned, because of

38...¢f7 39.£xh5+ ¢xg7 40.gxh4 ¦g8 41.¦g3+

¢f8 42.£h6+ and White wins big material. 1–0

Radjabov,T (2744) - Harikrishna,P (2669)

World Team Ch (Ningbo), 18.07.2011

C50, Giuoco Piano

17.a4 ¥c7

17...¥xh3?! isn ’ t a real threat, as it can be met

simply by 18.gxh3 £xh3 19.¦e2! followed by

20.£f1. 17...a5? is not possible, because of

18.d5! winning a piece.

18.a5 a6 19.¦a4

White aims to exploit his space advantage by

fixing the centre with c4–d5, when the ¥ on c7

becomes extremely passive.

19...£e7

19...d5 20.¤xe5 ¤xe5 21.dxe5 ¤xe4

(21...¥xe5?! 22.f4!) 22.¤xe4 dxe4 23.¦xe4

doesn ’ t give Black sufficient compensation for

the pawn.

20.c4!

1.e4 e5 2.¤f3 ¤c6 3.¥c4 ¥c5 4.0–0

A more common setup is to delay castling with

4.d3 ¤f6 5.c3.

4...¤f6 5.d3 0–0 6.¤bd2 d6 7.c3 ¥b6

Another option is 7...a6 8.¥b3 ¥a7 9.h3 which

has been played countless times and in fact is

usually reached via the move-order given after

move 4.

8.¥b3 ¤e7 9.h3

Also possible is 9.¤c4 which has been the

preferred option of Giuoco Piano expert

Movsesian: 9...¥e6 10.¥g5 ¤g6 11.¤h4 £d7

(11...¤xh4 12.¥xh4 h6 is a safer approach.)

12.¥xf6 gxf6 13.£h5 ¢h8 14.¤e3 ¦g8 15.¢h1

¤xh4 16.£xh4 ¦g6 17.¦ad1 ¦ag8 18.d4 £e7

19.¦d2 c6 20.¥c2 £f8 21.f4 with an initiative for

White in Movsesian-Krasenkow, Wijk aan Zee

2008.

9...c6 10.¦e1 ¤g6 11.d4 h6

11...¦e8 12.dxe5 (12.¥c2 is more flexible.)

12...¤xe5 13.¤xe5 dxe5 14.£f3 ¥e6 15.¤c4

£c7 with equality in Kobalia-Beliavsky,

Kallithea 2008.

12.¥c2

12.¤f1 ¦e8 13.¤g3 ¥e6 14.¥xe6 ¦xe6 15.a4

£e8?! (15...£c7 doesn ’ t cause Black any

problems.) 16.dxe5 dxe5 17.a5 ¥c7 18.£b3

with a pleasant edge for White in Skripchenko-

Stefanova, Moscow blitz 2010.

12...¥e6 13.¤f1 £c7

Considering what followed, it might have been

better for Black to play 13...£d7 straight away.

14.¥e3 ¦ad8 15.£c1

Less accurate is 15.£d2 which allows Black to

play 15...exd4 16.cxd4 d5 17.e5 ¤e4 and the £

is badly placed on d2.

15...¦fe8 16.¤g3 £d7

16...d5? would be bad timing now, in view of

17.¤xe5! ¤xe5 18.dxe5 ¥xe3 (18...£xe5?

19.¥f4 traps the £.) 19.£xe3 £xe5 20.f4 £c7

21.e5 with an overwhelming advantage for

White.

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20...£f8

20...exd4 21.¤xd4 isn ’ t a serious option either,

as the ¤ will jump to f5, retaining a clear

advantage.

21.d5! ¥d7

The inclusion of the pawn exchange hardly

helps Black, because after 21...cxd5 22.exd5!

¥d7 23.¦a3 the ¥ on c2 has become a powerful

asset.

22.¦a3!

The ¦ has done its job on a4 and hence switches

to the 3rd.

22...¦c8 23.£d2 ¤e7 24.¥b1 ¦b8 25.¦b3

¦ec8 26.¤h4

The pseudo-sacrifice 26.¤xe5 only eases

Black ’ s task: 26...dxe5 27.d6 ¥d8 28.dxe7 ¥xe7

RADJABOV - HARIKRISHNA

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

No. 133, July 20, 2011

THIS WEEK'S HARVEST

Ruy Lopez, Closed

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1.e4 e5 2.¤f3 ¤c6 3.¥b5 a6 4.¥a4 ¤f6 5.0–0 ¥e7 6.d3 b5 7.¥b3

d6 8.a4 ¥d7 9.c3 0–0 10.¥c2 ¦e8 11.¦e1 h6 12.¤bd2 ¥f8 13.h3 ¤e7

Since the main lines of the Ruy Lopez are fine for Black, theoretically speaking, white players have a habit of

avoiding them by playing systems starting with d3. The variation with 6.d3 b5 7.¥b3 d6 8.a4 has been seen

quite often lately and thus deserves closer attention. Compared with the Anti-Marshall 8.a4, Black isn't forced to

release the tension by advancing his b-pawn and has the additional option of playing 8...¥d7. On the very same

day in Ningbo two real 1.e4 e5 experts chose a different course. In Kamsky-Aronian, Black opted for 8...b4 when

Kamsky came up with the novelty 9.¥g5, a natural developing move aimed at exchanging the ¥ for the ¤ with the

idea of exploiting the vulnerable light squares. His strategy finally succeeded, though undoubtedly Aronian's play

could be improved in various stages. I (RR) am more fond of the flexible 8...¥d7, which was also Leko's choice

in his game with Karjakin. In previous games the black players went for an early ....d5, though Leko's 13...¤e7

is a more convincing path to equality.

Scotch, Mieses

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1.e4 e5 2.¤f3 ¤c6 3.d4 exd4 4.¤xd4 ¤f6 5.¤xc6 bxc6 6.e5 £e7 7.£e2 ¤d5 8.c4 ¤b6 9.b3 a5

10.¥b2 a4 11.£e3 axb3 12.axb3 ¦xa1 13.¥xa1 d5 14.¥e2 £c5 15.£c3 £b4 16.0–0 £xc3 17.¥xc3

Half a year ago the Scotch Opening was very popular (see CVO 103, 106, 107 and 108) as an alternative to

the Ruy Lopez, but ever since the opening has been shrouded in silence. On the 17th of July two grandmaster

games were played with the Scotch again, so it's time for a little update. In Howell-Van den Doel, played in the

last round in Leiden, Black went for the endgame known from Nepomniachtchi-Svidler, Moscow 2010. In this

endgame Black starts off with enough piece activity to compensate for the pawn weaknesses on the queenside

(and the black h-pawn can become strong in the final stage of the game), but playing for compensation like this

is quite a burden in a practical game. Van den Doel did quite a good job, but started slipping on move 32. After

the first time control Howell impressed in the endgame and finally won. In Nepomniachtchi-Onischuk we saw

the same picture: an ending that seems to be holdable at the start, but is simply much easier to play for White. It

took Nepomniachtchi only 20 moves from the diagram position to win the game. Black should probably stick to

the new Kramnik approach with 9...¥b7.

Grünfeld, Exchange, 8.¥e3

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1.d4 ¤f6 2.c4 g6 3.¤f3 ¥g7 4.¤c3 d5 5.cxd5 ¤xd5 6.e4 ¤xc3 7.bxc3 c5

8.¥e3 £a5 9.¤d2 cxd4 10.¤c4 dxe3 11.¤xa5 ¥xc3+ 12.¢e2 ¥xa5 13.¢xe3

After 9.¤d2!? was introduced by super theoretician Kasimdzhanov, it's taken quite a while for it to be picked up

by the elite of the chess world. The white ¤ doesn't want to be pinned by ...¥g4 and hence steps away voluntarily,

with the idea of attacking the £ on a5. In CVO 3 we already pointed out the idea from the game Kasimdzhanov-

Navara. Recently Avrukh employed the idea in his game against Kovchan, but soon had to allow a repetition of

moves. It was undoubtedly Aronian's intention to improve upon that game with e.g. 12.¦c1 f5 13.£b3!? However,

Sutovsky didn't let it get so far and instead came up with the spectacular £ sacrifice 10...dxe3. After 11.¤xa5

¥xc3 12.¢e2 ¥xa5 13.¢xe3 Black has two minor pieces and a pawn as material compensation. However, his

development hasn't yet been completed and Aronian managed to get his ¢ to safety quickly. Since I (RR) have

failed to find a significant improvement for Black, the value of Black's creative innovation might be in doubt.

1.d4 ¤f6 2.c4 g6 3.¤c3 d5 4.cxd5 ¤xd5 5.e4 ¤xc3 6.bxc3 ¥g7 7.¤f3 c5 8.¦b1 0–0

9.¥e2 b6 10.0–0 ¥b7 11.d5 ¥xc3 12.¥c4 ¥g7 13.£d3 £c8 14.¥g5 ¦e8 15.e5 e6

The Grünfeld is currently very hot. A two-volume black repertoire by Avrukh recently appeared, written in his

typical detailed style, as well as The Safest Grünfeld by Delchev & Agrest. The Grünfeld seems to be popular at

all levels of play. It's a very rich opening (which admittedly takes more than a few hours of studying to master) and

Black seems to be able to regulate the amount of risk he takes in playing for a win. In the good old 8.¦b1 gambit

line, Svidler played the main line against Shulman and only played the first novelty when the board was already

more than half empty. The draw was always the logical outcome. The world's number one rated player has even

tougher obligations playing with the black pieces, so Carlsen went for the more risky 9...b6 against Pelletier,

giving White an enormous space advantage. The first novelty was 15...e6 leading to the diagram position. After

16.dxe6 fxe6 an interesting alternative may have been 17.¥f6 to create play on the kingside. As the game went,

things seemed to remain balanced until White decided to return the exchange sacrifice with 22.¦xd4?. After 88

moves Carlsen cashed in the full point in a £ ending.

Grünfeld, Exchange, 8. ¦ b1

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

No. 133, July 20, 2011

IT'S YOUR MOVE

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LAST WEEK'S SOLUTIONS

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Savchenko-Mchedlishvili, Turkish Team Champioship (Konya) 2011

White is a pawn up, but if Black succeeds in consolidating his queenside and getting his ¢ to safety the worst will

be behind him. It's White to move, though... 16.a6! Preventing Black from stabilizing with ...a6. 16...£c7 16...¤xa1

17.axb7 ¦b8 18.£a4 £b6 19.¥f3 ¢d7 20.¥e3 £xb7 21.¦xa1 gives White a devastating attack. 17.axb7 £xb7

18.¦a6! The ¦ joins the attack. 18...¤xc1 19.¦xc1 ¦c8 20.£a4 ¥c5 21.b4 ¥b6 22.¥f3 £c7 22...0–0 loses to

23.b5. 23.c4 and Black resigned, as further loss of material is inevitable. 1–0

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Istratescu-Berg, Greek Team Championship (Eretria) 2011

In King's Indian and Benoni positions it's not enough just to play standard moves. You always needs to be on

the lookout for creative solutions. That's a style Berg likes to play in so he probably had no problems finding:

14...¥xg4! 15.fxg4 ¤fxg4 16.¥f4 ¥h6! The key idea behind the sacrifice. 17.¥xe5 17.¥g3? ¤e3; 17.0–0? ¥xf4

18.¦xf4 ¤e3 followed by £g5. 17...¤xe5 18.¤f3 ¤xf3+ 19.¥xf3 £h4+ 20.¢e2 b5! with two pawns and a nice

initiative for the piece. The game was drawn after a long fight.

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! Why not subscribe

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