CVO_045.pdf

No. 45, November 11, 2009

OPENINGS

WHAT’S HOT AND WHAT’S NOT?

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World Champions

lead in Moscow

By IM Merijn van Delft & IM Robert Ris

In the strongest tournament of 2009 the 14th and

15th World Champion are both in excellent shape.

Theory on 1.d4 is being pushed forward with big steps.

Furthermore we checked the Spanish League and the

Barcelona GM tournament.

Frequency

WHAT’S HOT?

In the first 25 games in Moscow, 1.d4 was played 19 times, 1.e4 5 times and

1.c4 once (a reversed Sicilian). Earlier this year Leko-Gelfand meant good

news for White in the Petroff, but this time Black equalized with a positional

exchange sacrifice. Svidler-Ponomariov hit the ball back in White ’ s court

concerning the Berlin Wall. Svidler-Ivanchuk was a Ruy Lopez with 4...¥c5

in which Black had no problems either. Morozevich-Leko was a Scotch that

did give White an advantage (see PGN file).

Score

In Moscow there were no less than nine games with the Grünfeld so far

and to create an overview we list them up here: Ivanchuk-Carlsen (3.¥f4),

Ponomariov-Anand (Fianchetto), Aronian-Svidler and Gelfand-Carlsen

(4.¥g5), Ivanchuk-Anand (5.e3), Anand-Svidler (5.¥d2), Kramnik-Svidler

(7.¥e3 and in the diagram position 10...¥g4), Kramnik-Anand (7.¤f3) and

Ponomariov-Aronian (7.¥c4).

Interestingly, Aronian seemed to be tired of just defending the Semi-

Slav (with Black) and battling the Grünfeld (with White) and succesfully

joined both discussions from the opposite perspective as well! Even more

interesting is the new Kramnik we ’ re seeing: playing for a win with both

colours. Shirov-Gashimov showed that the Benoni is still doing very well

for Black.

Source: Megabase + TWIC, 2500+ only

The amount of knowledge and skills one needs to be able to play the Semi-Slav with Black is slowly but surely reaching the tolerance

limit. Black soon needs some sort of short-cut, cutting out some nasy chapters (compare the recent developments in the Grünfeld),

because at the moment nasty chapters are being added on a weekly basis. In the third round

Aronian beat Leko with the Anti-Moscow Gambit and in the fifth round Anand did the same

by introducing a very tricky novelty. Maybe Black should play the Botvinnik, like Shirov does?

WHAT’S NOT?

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

No. 45, November 11, 2009

Kramnik playing in Bosboom style

In the chat of our Tal Memorial live commentary, GM Sipke Ernst remarked: “Good to see

Kramnik playing in Bosboom style!”, referring to the racing h-pawn within an otherwise rather

positional context, so typical for the creative Dutch IM. It certainly took Svidler by surprise.

GAME OF THE WEEK

17.¥xg7 ¢xg7 18.¥c4 and the black kingside is

falling apart after the subsequent ¤e5.

17.¦xh6

After 17.£xh6?! £xa2 we don ’ t see a clear way

for White to proceed.

17...¦f6

We recommend 17...¤c7 although White ’ s

chances remain better after 18.¤e5.

18.¤e5 £a4

Threatening 19...£e4.

19.£e3!

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19...£f4

Alternatives were no better. For example:

a) 19...£e4 fails to 20.¦xg6+!;

b) 19...¤c7 20.¥c4!±;

c) 19...¤b4 20.¤xg6! (20.cxb4?! £xb4+ 21.£c3

(21.¦c3 £b1+ 22.£c1 £e4+=) 21...£f4! is

unclear.) 20...hxg6 21.£h3!+-.

20.£xf4 ¦xf4 21.¤xg6 hxg6 22.¦xg6+ ¢f7

23.¦g5

White has won a pawn and Kramnik doesn ’ t

have any problems converting it with his

flawless technique.

23...¦e4+

Still 23...¤c7 was advisable for Black.

24.¥e2 ¢f6 25.¦h5 ¢g6 26.g4 ¦f8 27.¦d1 ¦f6

28.¦h8 ¢g7 29.¦d8 ¦b6 30.f3

Everything could still be spoiled by 30.¦d7? ¦b2

31.¦d2 ¦b1+ 32.¦d1 ¦b2 with a draw.

30...¦e3 31.¦d3 ¦e5 32.¢f2 ¦h6 33.¥f1 ¦h2+

34.¢g3 ¦xa2 35.d6! exd6 36.¦3xd6 ¦e7

37.¦6d7 and Black resigned. The poor ¤ has

been sitting on a6 the whole game. A mighty

performance by a reborn Kramnik. 1–0

Kramnik, V (2772) - Svidler, P (2754)

Tal Memorial (Moscow), 08.11.2009

D85, Grünfeld-Indian, Exchange

development. 11...e6 12.c4²; 11...¥xf3 12.gxf3

¤d7 13.c4 £c7 14.f4 e5 15.fxe5 ¤xe5 16.¥e2

£e7 17.f4 ¤d7 18.¥f3² Khenkin-Romanishin,

Ohrid 2001.

12.h4!?

1.d4 ¤f6 2.c4 g6 3.¤c3 d5 4.cxd5 ¤xd5 5.e4

One day prior to this game, Anand tried

5.¥d2 against Svidler, and won after the latter

blundered horribly (see page 4).

5...¤xc3 6.bxc3 ¥g7 7.¥e3 c5 8.¦c1

Using this move-order, Kramnik avoids some

variations. 8.¤f3 £a5 9.£d2 ¤c6 is covered in

Malakhatko-Sutovsky, CVO 33.

8...£a5 9.£d2 0–0

As White has not developed his ¤ fo f3,

releasing the tension would be premature,

giving White an additional possibility: 9...cxd4

10.cxd4 £xd2+ 11.¢xd2 (11.¥xd2 0–0 12.¤f3

¥g4 13.¦c7 ¥xf3 14.gxf3 ¥xd4 15.¦xb7 ¤c6

16.¥a6 ½–½ Kramnik-Svidler, Dortmund 2004.)

11...0–0 12.¥d3 e6 13.¤e2! ¤c6 14.¦c4 ¦d8

15.¦b1 ¥d7 16.¤c3 ¥e8 17.e5 ¦ab8 18.f4 and

White had free play on both wings in Radjabov-

Kamsky, Dresden 2008.

10.¤f3

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A home-prepared idea by Kramnik. In earlier

games White tried 12.¤g5 and 12.¥e2 but in

both cases Black can achieve some counter

chances with the thematical sacrifice 12...c4!. In

case of 12.c4?! the weak pawn on a2 will fall

after 12...¤b4.

12...f5?

Svidler immediately answers in the centre, but

as it turns out this only further weakens his

position. Now, the other break move 12...e6? is

refuted by 13.¤h2!; Black ’ s best chance would

have been 12...c4! which justifies his previous

move. 13.h5 (13.¥xc4?! ¦ac8 gives Black ample

play for the pawn and 13.¤h2 ¥d7 14.h5 ¤c5

is fine as well.) 13...¤c5! (but not 13...¥xh5?!

14.¥h6 with a strong attack.) 14.hxg6 fxg6 with

a complicated battle.

13.exf5 ¥xf5

13...¦xf5? 14.¤h2! loses the ¥ while 13...¥xf3

14.gxf3 ¦xf5 15.¥h3 ¦xf3 16.h5 allows a

dangerous initiative over the white squares.

14.h5

Here it ’ s already evident that Black ’ s 12th move

didn ’ t lead to any active piece play.

14...¦ad8 15.hxg6 ¥xg6 16.¥h6 ¥xh6

Allowing the exchange on g7 is suicidal: 16...¤c7

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10...¥g4

A topical alternative is 10...¦d8 11.d5 e6 while

after 10...cxd4 11.cxd4 £xd2+ 12.¤xd2 ¤c6

13.¤f3 White still has the right to castle.

11.d5!

Nothing is achieved for White by 11.¤g5 cxd4

12.cxd4 ¤c6 13.£xa5 ¤xa5 14.h3 ¥d7 15.¥d3

¦fc8 16.¢d2 b5 with a balanced game in San

Segundo Carrillo-Svidler, Donostia 2009.

11...¤a6

This

KRAMNIK - SVIDLER

Black ’ s

best

way

complete

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

No. 45, November 11, 2009

THIS WEEK’S HARVEST

Sicilian Rauzer, 6... ¥ d7

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1.e4 c5 2.¤f3 ¤c6 3.d4 cxd4 4.¤xd4 ¤f6 5.¤c3 d6 6.¥g5 ¥d7 7.£d2 ¦c8

8.f4 ¤xd4 9.£xd4 £a5 10.e5 dxe5 11.fxe5 e6 12.0–0–0 ¥c6 13.¤b5 ¥xb5 14.exf6 ¥c6

15.h4 g6 16.¥c4 ¥c5 17.£g4 h5 18.£g3 0–0 19.¥d2 £b6 20.¥xe6 ¥e4 21.¥xc8 ¦xc8 22.£b3

Dreev ist mostly known for his Caro-Kann and French, but his 6...¥d7 Rauzer has been another one of his

pet lines for many years, and serving him well. This may have come to an end though, since in their race for

tournament victory in Barcelona, the young rising star Alsina Leal beat the maestro in the very main line. Firstly,

on a side note, 7.¥e2!? is a critical alternative, analyzed by Wells to a solid edge for White in Experts vs the

Sicilian . 8.f4! is the most accurate move order, since 8.0–0–0 allows the exchange sacrifice on c3 two moves

later, as was shown in Lopez Martinez-Almeida Quintana from the same tournament. What follows is a series of

forced moves up to 18.£g3!, which is incidentally recommended in the Rybka 3 book. With the novelty 19.¥d2!

followed by 20.¥xe6! White improved on the move order, winning the exchange (see diagram) and after a tough

battle the game as well.

Anti-Moscow Gambit

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1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.¤f3 ¤f6 4.¤c3 e6 5.¥g5 h6 6.¥h4 dxc4 7.e4 g5 8.¥g3 b5

9.¥e2 ¥b7 10.0–0 ¤bd7 11.¤e5 ¥g7 12.¤xd7 ¤xd7 13.¥d6 a6 14.a4 e5 15.¥g4 exd4

16.e5 c5 17.¦e1 ¤xe5 18.¥xe5 0–0 19.¥xg7 ¢xg7 20.¤e2 f5 21.¥h5 f4 22.¤xd4 cxd4 23.¦e6

In the third round Aronian went for the 9.¤e5 ¥b7 10.h4 g4 11.¤xg4 line, trading queens with the novelty 15.£g5!?

and outplaying Leko in the subsequent queenless middlegame. Two rounds later things came even worse for Leko,

as Anand had prepared the nasty 22.¤xd4!? novelty, which is credited to Kasimdzhanov (and may well have been

prepared for Bonn last year). According to Anand, Black ’ s problems after this move are almost impossible to solve

at the board. With the help of the computer the right way out of the labyrint looks something like (from the diagram

position) 23...¦f6! 24.£e1 ¥d5! 25.¦e7 ¢g8! 26.axb5 (26.¦e8 £xe8 27.¥xe8 ¦e6! is the key idea with compensation

for the queen) £d6! 27.¦xa6 ¦xa6 28.bxa6 £xa6 29.¦e8 ¦f8 30.¦xf8 ¢xf8 31.£e8 ¢g7 32.£e5 ¢h7 33.£xd4 and

here GM Shipov points out the cool idea 33...¥f7! 34.£d7 ¢h8! with equality because of the weak back rank. Not to

mention possible sidelines along the way, of course.

Grünfeld-Indian, 8.¦b1

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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 cxd4

10.cxd4 £a5+ 11.¥d2 £xa2 12.0–0 ¥g4 13.¥g5 h6 14.¥h4 g5 15.¥g3 ¤c6 16.d5 ¦ad8 17.¦xb7 e6

Since the mid-nineties 8.¦b1 has taken a secure place in the theory on the Grünfeld. White forces the ¥ on c8

to limit itself to protecting b7, but in doing so leaves his own pawn on a2 en prise. Hence, Black ’ s most consistent

reply is to take the plunge grabbing the pawn. Players like Kramnik and Gelfand have spent countless number of

hours on this ultra sharp line and still new stuff is being found. In Wijk aan Zee, Grünfeld expert Dominguez took

White ’ s chances too lightly by pushing his a-pawn instantly. In Kramnik-Anand, the Indian improved with 17...e6

(after 17...f5, 18.¦c7! might be unpleasant, but not 18.exf5?! as in Mamedyarov-Grischuk where the latter held

balance with 20...¦d3!) 18.¥c7 ¥xf3! on the old game Chernin-Horvath, and equalized quite comfortably. Like

in Kramnik-Svidler, this ...f5 break again seems to be too weakening here. It indicates that an human-eye on

the position is still valuable, as engines prefer that move over Anand ’ s choice. It is quite possible to play this line

against 8.¦b1, but we do warn you for many pitfalls the variation contains, e.g. 13.¦xb7, 14.¥xe7 and 14.¥e3.

Nimzo-Indian, 4.£c2

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1.d4 ¤f6 2.c4 e6 3.¤c3 ¥b4 4.£c2 0–0 5.a3 ¥xc3+ 6.£xc3 d5 7.¤f3 dxc4 8.£xc4 b6

In our last issue we drew your attention to the dynamic Nimzo victory Anand obtained against Karpov. Not

surprisingly, other players started to borrow his idea. In the first round Kramnik battled out a sharp fight with Carlsen,

who certainly didn ’ t get anything out of the opening. However, even more surprisingly was Morozevich ’ performance

two days later. Spending half an hour, Moro came up with an unorthodox solution (12.¢xf1?!), aiming to bring his ¦

into play via h3. As so often in this line, White can ’ t permit himself such luxuries and Kramnik beautifully exploited

White ’ s back rank problems with the original ¤d7-c5-b3-c1! manoeuvre. In Dreev-Fier, the Russian GM voluntarily

returned his advantage of the two ¥s, but the Brazilian didn ’ t find difficulties in holding the balance. As we stated

last week, Black doesn ’ t seem to have any problems in this line. His ¤s are very annoying for White ’ s undeveloped

camp. White ’ s best try might be 7.e3 b6 8.¤f3, to be at least capable of taking back on c4 with the ¥ any moment,

although practice has confirmed Black doesn ’ t need to fear that much there as well.

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

No. 45, November 11, 2009

OPENING EXPERT

Who: Viswanathan Anand

Born: December 11, 1969

Nationality: India

Rating: 2778

Expertise: Lately some successes with the Grünfeld and 1.d4

Why: Anand’s opening repertoire was not his strongest part, and hence a few

years ago he changed his team of seconds. Georgian GM Ubilava’s role

vanished and instead Vishy added Danish theoretician GM Nielsen to

his team. Both players significantly tasted the fruits of their cooperation,

as the Dane is now close to the 2700 barrier as well. For his match with

Kramnik, Anand brought a team of other theoreticians together, among

them Kasimdzhanov and Wojtaszek, who convinced his to switch to 1.d4.

With sharp opening lines, Vishy managed to dominate the match and

keep the title. Since then, the Indian has not played that much (mainly

rapid games), but the option of playing both 1.d4 and 1.e4 makes him a

more complete player.

Key game: Anand - Svidler , Tal Memorial (Moscow) 07.11.2009

Anand grabs the initiative, as I don ’ t believe Black

can take full control over e5, now the knight is

already on d4.

22...¥f7

Obviously 22...gxf5 loses to 23.exf5.

23.¤g4 gxf5 24.¤h6+ ¢h8

24...¢g7 25.£xd4! ¢xh6 (25...¦xd4? 26.¤xf5+)

26.exf5 is not recommended for Black.

25.£f2 fxe4?

A blunder, based on miscalculation. Vishy

immediately strikes. It was called for 25...f4

26.£xf4 £e5.

26.¦xe4 £d6

26...¤e6 27.¦ce1±.

27.¦d1 c5 28.¤xf7+ ¦xf7 29.b4!

Undermining Black ’ s position.

29...f5 30.bxc5 fxe4 31.£xf7 ¤f3+ 32.£xf3

and Svidler resigned, since 32...£xc5 can be

answered with 33.£f2. A pity the game ended

abruptly after Svidler ’ s horrible 25...fxe4. 1–0

At the Tal Memorial, the Grünfeld has been the

main subject of theoretical debate. With Black

he drew convincingly in sharp lines with Kramnik

and Ponomariov. Using the White pieces, Vishy

opted for a less forcing line, chosing 5.¥d2. That

this system is not without venom, was shown in

typical Vishy style. Svidlers ¤s were somewhat

unluckily placed, and so Vishy perfectly sensed

to start an attack. Feeling the pressure growing,

the Russian GM blundered badly.

1.d4 ¤f6 2.c4 g6 3.¤c3 d5 4.cxd5 ¤xd5 5.¥d2

¥g7 6.e4 ¤b6 7.¥e3 0–0 8.h3 e5 9.¤f3 exd4

10.¥xd4 ¥xd4 11.£xd4 £e7 12.£e3 ¤c6

12...f5?! 13.¥e2 fxe4 14.¤xe4 ¥f5 15.¤c5

£xe3 16.fxe3 ¤8d7 17.¤xb7 ¦ae8 was seen

in Sokolov-Sutovsky, Gothenburg 2005, and

now 18.¢f2 would have given White the better

chances.

13.¥b5 ¤b4 14.¦c1 ¥e6 15.b3 a6 16.¥e2 ¤c6

Otherwise White would have played 17.¤d4.

17.0–0 f6 18.¦fe1 ¦ad8 19.¥f1

White slowly improves his position, while the

¤on b6 is out play.

19...¥f7

19...¤d7? is not good in view of 20.¤d5 ¥xd5

21.exd5 winning the pawn on c7.

20.¤h2 ¥e6 21.f4 ¤d4?!

21...¦fe8 is a safer attempt.

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22.f5!

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:

€ 25 a year (that’s less than € 0.50 per issue!). More info can be found at www.chessvibes.com/openings .

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