CVO_138.pdf

No. 138, August 24, 2011

OPENINGS

WHAT'S HOT AND WHAT'S NOT?

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More Delayed

Poisoned Pawn

By IM Merijn van Delft & IM Robert Ris

Frequency

Li Chao was the big star at the Universiade in

Shenzhen, winning the event with 8.5/9, two points

ahead of his closest rival. We also checked out the

French Championship, the BDO tournament in

Haarlem and a few opens.

WHAT’S HOT?

Score

The French top pairing of Vachier Lagrave-Fressinet saw Black comfortably

hold his own in the Berlin Endgame. Dvoirys is a player who manages to get

playable positions with the 5.¦e1 Anti-Berlin, but Khismatullin ultimately

had no problems holding a draw.

The Delayed Poisoned Pawn Variation of the Najdorf (6.¥g5 e6 7.f4 h6

8.¥h4 £b6) keeps steadily developing (see below). The other modern

alternative (6.¥g5 ¤bd7) has been less popular of late and took a beating

in Yilmaz-Zhou Jianchao. Kovchan-Khismatullin was a good black win in

the 6.¥e2 Najdorf. In Edouard-Bauer Black didn't manage to improve the

image of a dubious Taimanov line. The tactical complications of Li Chao-Y.

Vovk (French Defence) are covered below.

Wang Hao-Kravtsiv was an interesting follow-up to the g4-line Aronian

recently tried against the QGD. In our Game of the Week , Edouard-

Fressinet, Black made the Slav look like a very attractive opening. In the

diagram position Black went for 9...¥g6. In the PGN you'll find two games

with the 5.g3 Semi-Slav and below we'll update you on the fashionable 7...

b5 in the Catalan, while Wang Yue-Wang Hao was a solid Catalan draw.

Source: Megabase + TWIC, 2500+ only

This week several sidelines that usually make a solid impression, or at least give decent practical chances, didn't look great. In Kudrin-

Gustafsson Black beat the Italian Game, in Melkumyan-Li Chao Black made the Exchange Slav look like a poor choice (see below)

and in Li Chao-Wang Hao the Benoni was torn to pieces. We should add that when Li

Chao's in such great shape he can make any opening look bad, so next week things might

look different again.

WHAT'S NOT?

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

No. 138, August 24, 2011

Attacking with the Slav

Attacking is not the irst thing that comes to mind when you think about the rock solid 4...

dxc4 Slav, but when Fressinet got control over the light squares he converted that into a

direct attack.

GAME OF THE WEEK

20.a5 ¤c4 21.¦a4 b5

Less accurate is 21...¤d6?! in view of 22.c4

£e4 23.£a3 and White generates counterplay.

22.axb6 ¤dxb6 23.¦a6 0–0 24.¥a3 ¦fb8

25.¥b4 ¤d7 26.£e2 ¤f6 27.¦fa1 ¤e4 28.¦xa7

¦xa7 29.¦xa7 c5 30.dxc5

30.¥xc5 is strongly met by 30...¦b1+ 31.¢h2

¦h1+! 32.¢xh1 ¤g3+ winning the £.

30...¦d8 31.¢h2 ¤ed2 32.¢g3 £c6 33.g5 g6

34.¥a5?

The decisive blunder. White had to be more

cautious by playing 34.¢h2 though after

34...£e4! his position looks pretty grim anyway.

34...¤e4+

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35.¢h4

There was no way back any more: 35.¢h2

¦d2 36.£f3 (36.£xc4 can be answered with

36...¦xg2+! 37.¢xg2 ¤d2+ and Black wins.)

36...¦f2 and despite being two pawns up, White

is completely lost.

35...¤xa5 36.¦xa5 ¦d2

The immediate 36...h6! would also have been

decisive, as 37.gxh6 can be met by 37...£c7

threatening mate on e7.

37.£f1 h6! 38.£a1

Other moves wouldn ' t have saved Black either:

38.gxh6 £c7–+; 38.¦a7 is the most stubborn

attempt, though after 38...¤xg5! 39.¢g3 (39.

fxg5 ¦xg2! with mate to follow.) 39...¤e4+

40.¢h2 ¤f2 41.¢g3 g5! White ' s defensive task

is highly problematic.

38...hxg5+ 39.fxg5 £c7 40.¦a8+ ¦d8! and

White resigned, because after 41.¦xd8+ £xd8

mate on g5 is inevitable. 0–1

Edouard,R (2587) - Fressinet,L (2698)

French Championship (Caen), 17.08.2011

D19, Slav

11...¤d5

Black is unable to force a draw with 11...¤xg4?

12.hxg4 £xh4 13.gxh5 £g5+ (13...¥d6 14.¦e1!

and the ¢ escapes via f1.) 14.¢h2 £h4+

15.¢g2 £g5+ 16.¢h3! and Black has run out

of checks.

12.¤g2 ¥g6 13.f4 ¥xc3!

Black aims to take control of e4. Less clear is

13...¤7f6?! 14.f5 exf5 15.gxf5 ¥h5 16.£d3 £a5

which was seen in Mamedyarov-Le Quang

Liem, Khanty-Mansiysk 2010 and now instead

of 17.¤a2 (White should have gone for 17.e4!?

when his chances seem preferable.)

14.bxc3 ¥e4

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Black can ' t win a pawn with 14...¤xc3? because

of 15.£b3.

15.£d2?!

An unfortunate novelty, allowing Black to gain

a firm grip on the central light squares. An

earlier game went 15.¥d3 ¤xc3 16.£d2 ¥xd3

(16...¤c5? doesn ' t have the desired effect, in

view of 17.¥c2!) 17.£xd3 ¤d5 18.¥a3 £a5 19.f5

when a draw was agreed in Marin-Horvath,C

Odorheiu Secuiesc 1995.

15...£a5 16.¦a3 ¤5b6 17.¥d3 £d5 18.£c2

18.f5 ¤c4 19.¥xc4 £xc4 gives Black excellent

play as well.

18...¥xd3 19.£xd3 f5

Naturally Black covers the e4–square. 19...¤c4!?

also comes into consideration, e.g. 20.¦a1 ¤c5

21.£c2 ¤e4 and Black ' s in control.

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.¤f3 ¤f6 4.¤c3 dxc4 5.a4

¥f5 6.e3

The sharper alternative is 6.¤e5 which was last

dealt with in CVO 122.

6...e6 7.¥xc4 ¥b4 8.0–0 ¤bd7

Another possibility is 8...0–0 which often comes

down to the same thing as the text, although

there are some nuances involved.

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9.¤h4

The other main line runs 9.£e2 0–0 10.e4 ¥g6

11.¥d3 which came back into fashion in 2006

thanks to the efforts of Topalov in his match

against Kramnik.

9...¥g6

The alternative is 9...¥g4 10.f3 (10.£b3!? is

probably more testing.) 10...¥h5 11.g4 g5!?

which has been employed by Smeets, see CVO

34. This idea wouldn ' t have been possible had

Black played 8...0–0 instead of 8...¤d7.

10.h3

A recent high-profile game went 10.¤xg6 hxg6

11.h3 £a5 12.¤a2 ¥d6 13.b4 £g5 14.f4 £h4

15.£f3 g5 16.fxg5 £xg5 17.b5 0–0 with roughly

equal chances in Kramnik-Le Quang Liem,

Dortmund 2011.

10...¥h5 11.g4

A model game from Black ' s perspective went

11.£b3?! a5 12.g4 ¥g6 13.¤g2 0–0 14.¤f4

e5! 15.dxe5 ¤xe5 16.¥e2 ¤fd7 17.¤xg6 ¤xg6

18.¦d1 ¤c5! and White was already in big

trouble in Sakaev-Kasparov, Rethymnon 2003.

EDOUARD - FRESSINET

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

No. 138, August 24, 2011

THIS WEEK'S HARVEST

Delayed Poisoned Pawn

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1.e4 c5 2.¤f3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.¤xd4 ¤f6 5.¤c3 a6 6.¥g5 e6 7.f4 h6 8.¥h4 £b6 9.£d3

£xb2 10.¦b1 £a3 11.f5 ¥e7 12.fxe6 ¥xe6 13.¤xe6 fxe6 14.¥e2 ¤bd7 15.0–0 ¤c5 16.£h3

This week two more grandmaster games were played in the Delayed Poisoned Pawn Variation. In Istratescu-

Dorfman White played 9.a3, which we considered critical last week (based on 9...¤bd7 10.¥c4!), but Dorfman

improved with 9...¥e7! and now 10.¥c4 would run into 10...¤xe4!. The novelty 10.¥f2 £c7 11.¥g3N was far

from impressive and it was only because Dorfman is usually happy with a draw that White was let off the hook.

A key idea is that Black often switches to the classical ¤c6 as a way of developing. In Huschenbeth-Van

Kampen 9.£d3 was tested. In CVO 105 we wrote about the position after 11...¥e7: "Should be compared with

the regular lines". Van Kampen commented on the key move 12... ¥xe6! - "Compared to the regular Poisoned

Pawn Variation Black now always has £c1 as an answer to ¦xb7, since the ¥ is no longer on g5". 14.e5 doesn't

seem to worry Black either as his ¢ tends to run away via d8. In the diagram position Black could have safely

castled with a comfortable position.

French, Steinitz

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1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.¤c3 ¤f6 4.e5 ¤fd7 5.f4 c5 6.¤f3 ¤c6 7.¥e3 a6 8.£d2 b5 9.dxc5 ¥xc5 10.¥d3 d4 11.¤xd4 ¤xd4 12.¥e4

In the last couple of years several Chinese players have made a huge contribution to the theory of the Steinitz

Variation. The promising star Ding Liren has recently quite often played 7...a6 8.£d2 b5 9.dxc5 ¥xc5 with

reasonable results. The latest trend is to complete further development with 10.¥d3 rather than 10.¥xc5 ¤xc5

11.£f2 when White can only count on a marginal edge. After 10.¥d3 Black had to date only played 10...£b6 when

11.¥f2 followed by 12.0–0 gives White a more pleasant game (see analysis). In Li Chao-Y.Vovk Black adopted

a critical approach by entering the complications with 10...d4!? After 11.¤xd4 ¤xd4 12.¥e4 the Ukrainian GM

went for 12...£b6, whereas 12...¤b6!? deserves a closer look. The latter forces White to sacrifice his £ in return

for a ¦ and a minor piece. More importantly, the black ¢ can't leave the centre, so White may be able to count

on some long term compensation as well. In the game Black's pair of ¥s in combination with the 4 vs. 2 majority

offered him sufficient positional compensation for the exchange.

Slav, Exchange

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1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.¤c3 ¤f6 4.cxd5 cxd5 5.¥f4 ¤c6 6.e3 e6 7.¥d3 ¥d6

8.¤f3 0–0 9.0–0 ¥xf4 10.exf4 £d6 11.¤e5 ¥d7 12.¦c1 ¦fc8 13.a3 ¥e8

How is it possible to score 8.5/9 while your fellow grandmasters are trying to keep everything strictly under

control with the white pieces, using openings like the Exchange Slav? Part of the answer is that in the Exchange

Slav almost all the pieces remain on the board. Another key element is that in an increasing number of games

we see Black keeping his classical problem piece, ¥c8, within the pawn chain on purpose. In the middlegame

there are no bad pieces as Grandmaster Suba stated in his book Dynamic Chess Strategy . In Melkumyan-Li

Chao Black had no problem exchanging bishops with ¥d6 and furthermore used the Steinitz manoeuvre of first

developing ¦f8 (usually to d8, here c8) and then putting the ¥ on e8, to bring harmony to the black army. Often

¥d3 is little better as a piece than ¥e8. The net effect is that Black doesn't suffer from a vulnerable queenside, or

tactical threats along the a4–e8 diagonal. Finally, White may not be psychologically ready for a fully-fledged fight

and may be the first to start slipping in an unclear position.

Catalan, 6...dxc4

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1.d4 ¤f6 2.c4 e6 3.¤f3 d5 4.g3 ¥e7 5.¥g2 0–0 6.0–0 dxc4 7.£c2 b5 8.a4 b4 9.¤fd2 c6 10.¤xc4 £xd4 11.¥e3 £g4 12.¤bd2

In CVO 118 we expected to hear more soon on the Catalan with 6...dxc4 and 7...b5!? so the time has come

to give an update about this fashionable line. 9.¤e5?! gives Black ample compensation for the exchange after

9...£xd4 10.¥xa8 £xe5, while immediately recapturing the pawn with 9.£xc4 allows Black to mobilize his forces

quickly. The main move seems to be 9.¤bd2 which was also mentioned back then. In the game Ragger-Vallejo,

Black ended up in a highly unpleasant ending, but 13...¥xg2! 14.¢xg2 £c7! which was seen in Spirin-Gajewski,

seems the perfect equalizer for Black. More ideas have been tested as well, but with accurate play Black should

be able to hold (see the PGN for extensive analysis). An idea worth considering is 9.¤fd2!? which was introduced

in Gelfand-Ponomariov. After 11.¦d1 £c5 12.¥e3 £h5! Black was able to regroup his pieces after eliminating

the ¥ with ¤g4xe3. In this week's Grigoryan-Olszewski White fine-tuned the idea with 11.¥e3 £g4 12.¤bd2

when Black doesn't have the idea of ¤g4 at his disposal. The Polish GM went wrong with 12...¥a6? whereas the

novelty 12...¤d5!? deserves further investigation.

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

No. 138, August 24, 2011

IT'S YOUR MOVE

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LAST WEEK'S SOLUTIONS

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Kempinski-Szabo, ZMDI Open (Dresden) 2011

14...¥h3! A remarkable tactical idea. 15.0–0 15.gxh3 ¦c8 16.£b1?? (16.¥xh7+ ¤xh7 17.£f5 is a better way out.)

16...¦c1+! is the point of Black ’ s play. 15...¦c8 16.£b1 ¥d7 17.¥e2 ¥g4 18.¥xg4 ¤exg4 19.£f5 £c7 20.¤2f3

¦fe8 and control of the c-file compensates for the isolated d-pawn. 21.h3 ¤e5 22.¤xe5 ¦xe5 23.£f4 ¦ee8

24.£xc7 ¦xc7 25.¦fc1 ¦ec8 26.¦xc7 ¦xc7 27.f3 ¢f8 28.¢f2 g6 29.g4 ¢e7 30.¢e2 ¤d7 31.h4 ¤c5 32.¦c1

¢d6 33.g5 ¤e6 34.¦xc7 ¢xc7 35.¢d3 ¢d6 36.b4 b6 37.f4 ¤f8 38.¤f3 ¤d7 39.¢d4 f5 40.¢d3 ¤b8 41.a4

¤c6 42.¢c3 ¢e6 43.b5 axb5 44.axb5 ¤e7 45.¤d4+ ¢d6 46.¢b4 ¢d7 47.¤e2 ¢e6 ½–½

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Bruzon Batista-Cheparinov, Baku Open 2011

Black is about to play ...e6, retaining a firm grip on the centre and keeping a strong ¤ on e4. However, it's White's

move, so he should act immediately to exploit the temporary misplacement of Black's pieces. 14.cxd5! ¥xd5

15.¤xe4 ¥xe4 15...fxe4 16.¤d2 and e4 falls. 16.¤g5! ¥xg2 17.¢xg2 e6 17...¦d6 is met by 18.d5!. 18.£b5!

18.£c4?! ¦d5 is still acceptable for Black. 18...¦b8 19.£c4 ¦f6 20.d5 exd5 21.¦xd5 ¤e7 22.¦c5 ¦c6 1–0

www.chessvibes.com/openings

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