CVO_044.pdf

No. 44, November 4, 2009

OPENINGS

WHAT’S HOT AND WHAT’S NOT?

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Safety-irst approach

By IM Merijn van Delft & IM Robert Ris

Azerbaijan won the European Team Championship

ahead of Russia and Armenia, but it was a very

close inish. Vachier-Lagrave won the World Junior

Championship ahead of Zhigalko after an even closer

inish. Anand clearly beat Karpov in their rapid match.

Frequency

WHAT’S HOT?

At the European Team Championship a safety-first approach was clearly

chosen by most teams, since a loss is hard to compensate for in a match

over four boards. After the round six top match Azerbaijan-Russia had

finished in four draws, the round seven top match Azerbaijan-Armenia

saw all games starting with 1.e4 e5. Radjabov ’ s Four Knights (against

Aronian) didn ’ t bring any advantage. Gashimov ’ s Petroff (against Akopian)

was solid enough. Only Sargissian managed to win a good game with his

Berlin Defence (against Guseinov), while the Italian Game Petrosian-

Mamedyarov was drawn. Russia beat Armenia in round eight because

Morozevich managed to beat Akopian in the Benoni.

Score

Of course there were exceptions, as our Game of the Week Svidler-Jobava

shows. The Short Variation of the Caro-Kann Advance is clearly in the

centre of attention. In the diagram position the brave Georgian went for the

uncommon 7...¤g6.

At the World Junior Championship we saw Vachier-Lagrave sticking to 1.e4

main lines and Najdorf and Grünfeld with Black, while runner-up Zhigalko

chose more offbeat stuff in the opening. Speaking of the Grünfeld, 14.g4

was an interesting try in Fridman-Lupulescu and the black ¦ on e6 made a

very dynamic impression in Tomashevsky-Petrosian.

Source: Megabase + TWIC, 2500+ only

Of course there were enough fighting games in Novi Sad but often from a solid base. Some of the sharper openings were not very hot this week.

For example the important last-round encounter Salgado Lopez-Alekseev was a very sharp French Winawer that completely backfired for Black

and cost Russia the title. Another opening that is generally doing fine lately but not this week, is

the Sicilian Taimanov. Balogh-Mastrovasilis and Kryvoruchko-Cvek were two convincing main

line wins while in Volokitin-Laznicka the Taimanov-Paulsen hybrid was tested by a new set-up.

WHAT’S NOT?

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

No. 44, November 4, 2009

Playing with ire in the Caro-Kann

Grandmaster Baadur Jobava is not scared of anyone and is ready to play very sharp positions.

Against Svidler he played some spectacular defensive moves, but according to our analyses

White’s attack was quite scary indeed...

GAME OF THE WEEK

although the ¥ should be preferred over the ¤,

Black ’ s position is not easy to crack.

16.¦xe5!

Nothing comes from indecisive moves like

16.¥h5?! ¥xd4 and 16.c3?! hxg6.

16...£xe5 17.¤f3!

17.¤b3? ¥xf2+! 18.¢xf2 ¦af8+ 19.¢g1 hxg6 is

undesirable for White.

17...£g3 18.£e2

Also after 18.¥d3!? £xf2+ 19.¢h1 ¦af8 20.¥d2

things seem to turn out in White ’ s favour.

18...hxg6

The pawn structure can ’ t be kept intact with

18...£xg6? in view of 19.¤e5+.

19.b4! ¥b6 20.c4

Threatening 21.c5.

20...dxc4 21.¥e3 £c7

21...¥xe3? 22.¦d1+ only accelerates White ’ s

attack.

22.¦d1+ ¢c8 23.¥xb6 axb6 24.£xe6+ ¢b8

25.¦d7 £f4

25...£c8? fails to 26.£d6+ ¢a7 27.¤d4.

26.¦f7!

26.¤d4? ¦xa2 loses on the spot.

26...£c1+ 27.¢h2 ¢a7

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28.¤d4?

Here Svidler loses track and lets Black escape

with a draw. Including 28.£d7! ¦ab8 and just

now 29.¤d4 would have left Black with a very

unpleasant defending task.

28...¦af8 29.¦xb7+

White has to force a perpetual, as after

29.¤xc6+? ¢a8 White has nothing.

29...¢xb7 30.£xc6+ ¢a6 31.£a4+ ¢b7 ½–½

Svidler, P (2741) - Jobava, B (2696)

European Team Ch (Novi Sad), 28.10.2009

B12, Caro-Kann Advance

¢d7= Gashimov-Wojtaszek, Novi Sad 2009.

8.¤b3

8.¤e1?! is now met by 8...¤f4.

8...¥g4

After 8...f6? 9.¤e1! fxe5 10.g4 e4 11.gxf5 exf5

12.f4 Black got insufficient compensation for his

piece in Ni Hua-Gelashvili, Turin 2006.

9.h3 ¥xf3 10.¥xf3 f6

With the ¤ on g6, this is the most common

plan to exert pressure on e5. On the other hand

White is ahead in development, so Black ’ s

ambitions involve certain risks.

11.¥h5!

More or less forcing Black to open the position,

as otherwise White retains a firm grip with 12.f4.

11...fxe5 12.dxe5 ¤dxe5 13.¦e1

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13...¢d7!

This is what Jobava had in mind. For the

moment his ¢ is safe behind his own central

pawns. In case of 13...£f6?! White seizes the

initiative with 14.f4! ¤d7 15.f5 £xf5 16.¥g4.

14.¤d4

14.f4!? is a natural alternative and seems to

give White an enduring initiative.

14...¥c5 15.¥xg6 £f6!?

A spectacular response, counterattacking the

weak spot f2. Obviously bad is 15...¤xg6?

16.¤xe6 while 15...£b6 can be answered with

16.¥e3 hxg6 (16...¤xg6 17.¤xe6!) 17.b4! ¥xb4

18.¦b1. However, better would have been

15...¥xd4 16.£xd4 ¤xg6 17.£xg7+ £e7 and

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 ¥f5 4.¤f3 e6 5.¥e2 ¤d7

Black has several other ways to deal with the

Short Variation, but White ’ s space advantage

plays Black part very often. Hence, most

principled is 5...c5 which has been seen quite

frequently lately. An update: 6.¥e3 cxd4 (The

sharp 6...£b6!? is covered in CVO 12,13, 35

and 37.) 7.¤xd4 ¤e7 8.¤d2 (8.¥g5 see CVO

18.) 8...¤bc6 9.¤2f3 ¥e4 (9...¥g4 10.0–0 a6

(10...¦c8!? 11.c3 a6 12.£b3 £d7 13.¦fd1 ¤xd4

14.¥xd4 ¤c6= Li Chao-Lenderman, Puerto

Madryn 2009.) 11.¦c1 ¥xf3 12.¤xf3 g6 13.c4

¥g7 14.cxd5 £xd5 (14...¤xd5!?) 15.£a4 £a5

16.£b3 0–0 Black almost fully equalized in

Gashimov-Stellwagen, Novi Sad 2009.) 10.0–0

¥xf3 (10...¤g6 was seen in two games Almasi-

Berkes.) 11.¤xf3 ¤f5 (11...g6 12.¥d3 (12.c4 ¥g7

13.cxd5 ¤xd5 14.¥c5 ¥f8 15.£c1 ¦c8 16.¥xf8

¤d4 17.£d1 ¤xe2+ 18.£xe2 ¢xf8= Kamsky-

Topalov, Sofia 2009.) 12...¥g7 13.¥f4 0–0 14.c3

f6 15.exf6 ¦xf6 16.¥g5 ¦f7 17.¦e1² Gashimov-

Mchedlishvili, Novi Sad 2009.) 12.¥f4 h6!?

Another invention from the Georgian kitchen.

(12...¥e7 13.¥d3 ¤h4 14.¤xh4 ¥xh4 15.£g4 g6

16.c4 with nice play for White in Volokitin-Ruck,

Budva 2009.) 13.¥d3 g5 14.¥xf5 exf5 15.¥e3

¥g7 16.¥c5 £d7 17.¥d6 0–0–0= Erenburg-

Kacheishvili, USCL 2009.

6.0–0 ¤e7 7.¤bd2 ¤g6

Here again, Black has various options, but none

of them does entirely solve Black ’ s opening

problems. Jobava, a renowned Caro-Kann

expert, lures his opponent into an home-

prepared idea. 7...¥g6?! allows White 8.¤h4!

while after 7...c5 8.c4! is a bit unpleasant. More

acceptable plans for Black are 7...¤c8!? and 7...

h6 8.¤b3 ¤c8 (8...¥h7!?), for example 9.¥e3

¤cb6 10.¤bd2 ¥e7 11.¤e1 c5 12.c3 cxd4

13.cxd4 ¤b8 14.¥d3 ¥xd3 15.¤xd3 ¤c6 16.£g4

g6 17.¦ac1 ¤d7 18.¦c3 ¤b4 19.¤xb4 ¥xb4

20.¦c2 ¦c8 21.¦fc1 ¦xc2 22.¦xc2 ¤b8 23.£e2

¤c6 24.¤f3 ¥e7 25.g3 £a5 26.a3 £a4 27.¢g2

SVIDLER - JOBAVA

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

No. 44, November 4, 2009

THIS WEEK’S HARVEST

Ruy Lopez Archangelsk

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1.e4 e5 2.¤f3 ¤c6 3.¥b5 a6 4.¥a4 ¤f6 5.0–0 b5 6.¥b3 ¥c5 7.a4 ¦b8 8.c3 d6 9.d4 ¥b6 10.axb5 axb5 11.¤a3 0–0

12.¤xb5 ¥g4 13.¥c2 £d7 14.¥g5 ¤b4 15.cxb4 £xb5 16.dxe5 dxe5 17.£d3 £xd3 18.¥xd3 ¥xf3 19.gxf3 h6 20.¥xf6 gxf6

At the beginning of the year, in CVO 5, we gave an overview of the Archangelsk Variation and more or less felt the

ball was in Black ’ s court. While that may still be the case, this week there were five grandmaster games that ask for

a short update and suggest Black is back in business. Mastrovasilis-Lenic was a sideline that shouldn ’ t be difficult

to repair for Black. Lopez Martinez-Halkias featured the tricky 10.a5, after which the chances seem balanced. In the

game between the leading experts, Svidler-Shirov, White deviated with 13.¦e1 and came up with the rook swinging

novelty 19.¦g5!?. It looked like Svidler had decent chances for an edge along the way, but Shirov kept the position

under control and made a draw. After the other critical move 13.¥c2, we concluded in CVO 5 that White gets an edge

after 13...¥xf3. Therefore this week two different moves were tested. In Kryvoruchko-Avrukh Black got away with

13...exd4 and in Hracek-Delchev the very interesting 13...£d7!? did well (see diagram).

Paulsen/Taimanov hybrid

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1.e4 c5 2.¤f3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.¤xd4 ¤c6 5.¤c3 a6 6.¥f4 d6 7.¤xc6

bxc6 8.£d2 e5 9.¥g5 ¤f6 10.0–0–0 h6 11.¥h4 ¥e6 12.f3 a5 13.b3

As we explained in CVO 16, the Sicilian Paulsen/Taimanov hybrid line with 4...¤c6 and 5... a6 is usually answered

by 6.¤xc6 bxc6 7.¥d3 d5 8.0–0 ¤f6 9. ¦e1 or 9.£f3!?. One week later we presented the model game Bacrot-

Mamedyarov and another six weeks later Motylev-Rublevsky. This week Laznicka had no problems dealing with

Cheparinov ’ s 6.¤xc6 bxc6 7.e5, but one day later he was confronted by Volokitin ’ s new concept of castling queenside

starting with the uncommon 6.¥f4 followed by 7.¤xc6 and 8.£d2. 13.b3!? leading to the diagram position is quite a

risky move that may have to be replaced by 13.Kb1 in future games. Instead of the game ’ s 13...¦b8 we feel that Black

should go for the logical pawn sac 13...a4! 14.¥xf6 (14.¤xa4 allows 14...¤xe4!) £xf6 15.¤xa4 ¥e7 followed by 0–0

and sacrificing the exchange on a4 with an enduring initiative. In the game Laznicka sacrificed the exchange on d4

and although he got some chances, it doesn ’ t look correct and Volokitin did indeed win the game.

Grünfeld-Indian, 4.¥g5

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1.d4 ¤f6 2.c4 g6 3.¤c3 d5 4.¥g5 ¤e4 5.¥h4 ¤xc3 6.bxc3 dxc4

7.e3 ¥e6 8.¤f3 ¥g7 9.£b1 £d5 10.¥e2 ¥f5 11.£b4 c5 12.¥xc4

In the crucial Armenia-Russia match, Aronian aimed to take revenge against Grünfeld guru Svidler. In two previous

encounters against the same opponent Aronian mishandled the system with 4.¥g5, but this time he had a new idea

up his sleeve. It needs to be said that the inclusion of 8.¤f3 ¥g7, before playing 9.£b1, has rarely been seen, as the

theoretical reply 9...b6 seems satisfactory to Black. But as in many Grünfeld lines, Svidler avoids main paths and

goes his own way, this time following a game by Sutovsky. Aronian deviated from that game with 12.¥xc4 and now

instead entering a slightly inferior ending, 12...£xd4! would have been an easier solution. One day after this game,

Jobava had drawn his conclusions and improved play with 11.£b2. Hammer ’ s reply 11...¥d3 is too hasty; it releases

the tension and enabled the Georgian GM to enter a better endgame. Hammer defended stubbornly and earned a

well-deserved draw, but improvements, for example 11...¤d7, would be very welcome for Black.

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.cxd5 ¤e4 8.£c2 exd5 9.¥f4 ¤c6

The 4.£c2 Nimzo often results in an unbalanced ¥ vs. ¤ battle. Whereas the structural advantages are with White,

the tactics are usually in Black ’ s favour. White spends a few moves on catching Black ’ s ¥, so that he is forced to

neglect the development of his ¢-side. From Black ’ s perspective, the position needs to be opened, which may

sound contradictory for the side who has given up his pair of ¥s. The variation 6...d5 7.cxd5 ¤e4!? was introduced

earlier this year by Anand, who deduced this idea from the line 4...d5 5.a3 ¥xc3 6.£xc3 ¤e4. Since then, new

games are added to the line, but until now no clear way for White to obtain a stable edge has been found. Therefore,

some prefer quieter moves like 7.e3 or 7.¤f3 to keep the game more flexible. In Corsica, Anand used this trendy

weapon again in a rapid game and even introduced the new move 9...¤c6, blocking his c-pawn, but striving for

concrete piece play. Karpov didn ’ t find an adequate answer and soon lost track in the middle phase of the game.

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

No. 44, November 4, 2009

OPENING EXPERT

Who: Boris Avrukh

Born: January 8, 1979

Nationality: Israel

Rating: 2668

Expertise: Fianchetto systems with 1.d4, Black Grünfeld.

Why: For many years already, the 31-year-old GM has been a trusted member

of the national team of Israel. Like many fellow countrymen, Avrukh can

be considered a super theoretician on various openings. With Black

he is an expert in the Grünfeld, and we recommend the fanatics to check

out his and Sutovsky’s games on this subject. With the White pieces he

almost exclusively opens with his queen’s pawn followed by a fianchetto

of his king’s ¥. His work on the Catalan opening doesn’t only reveal the

ins and outs of this subtle opening, but also shows Avrukh’s under-

standing of the game. In a clear way he is able to explain to a broad

audience the features of a position. Apart from just explaining, he is

perfectly able to apply his own theories in practice.

Key game: Avrukh - Sanikidze , European Team Ch (Novi Sad), 29.10.2009

Avrukh ’ s advantage in experience over a

younger player like Sanikidze is best illustrated

in a quiet positional fight in a Catalan opening.

Avrukh immediately senses how to exploit small

inaccuracies (18...f6?!) and directs his forces

to the weaknesses. That Avrukh controls other

aspects as well, was proved by the wonderful

combination the Israeli made to conclude the

game. A player to keep an eye on with 1.d4

openings.

1.d4 ¤f6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 d5 4.¥g2 ¥e7 5.¤f3 0–0

6.0–0 dxc4 7.£c2 a6 8.a4 ¥d7 9.£xc4 ¥c6

10.¥f4 ¤d5?!

10...a5 11.¤c3 ¤a6 or 10...¤bd7 are

recommended.

11.¤c3 ¤xf4 12.gxf4

This double pawn strenghtens White ’ s influence

in the centre and another advantage will soon

become clear!

12...a5 13.¤e5 ¥xg2 14.¢xg2 c6 15.¦ad1

¤a6 16.e3 ¤b4 17.¦g1!

Black is deprived from any serious counterplay

and so Avrukh correctly estimates his chances

along the g-file.

17...¤d5 18.¢h1 f6?!

18...g6 is less weakening.

19.¤f3 £b6

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20...£xb2

This seems too greedy. Safer is 20...¦f7 but it ’ s

clear that White has the better chances after

21.£h3.

21.¤xd5 cxd5 22.f5! £b6

22...exf5 23.¤h4 £c2 24.£h3.

23.£h3 ¦fe8?

23...exf5 24.£h6 ¦f7 25.¤e5.

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24.¦xg7+! ¢xg7 25.¦g1+ ¢h8 26.¤h4! h6

27.¤g6+ ¢h7 28.fxe6 ¦a6 29.£f5 £xe6

30.¤f8+ 1–0

20.£f1!

An original but strong manoeuvre. Now Black

has weakened his position with 18...f6, White

transports his £ with gain of time to the

battlefield.

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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