CVO_060.pdf

No. 60, February 24, 2010

OPENINGS

WHAT’S HOT AND WHAT’S NOT?

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Showdown

in Linares

By IM Merijn van Delft & IM Robert Ris

Frequency

Linares has come to full speed. Grischuk pulled off a

remarkable feat by beating Topalov in the penultimate

round. We also checked out Aerolot (won by Le Quang

Liem) and Cappelle la Grande (won by Zherebukh).

WHAT’S HOT?

Score

Gashimov managed to get some advantage against the Petroff, but it was

not enough to beat Gelfand. The same can be said about Gashimov-

Topalov in the Classical Ruy Lopez (early ¥c5). Gashimov-Vallejo Pons

and Cheparinov-Bareev were relevant Caro-Kanns. Young rising star

Zherebukh is already a 1.e4 force to reckon with as well, as can be seen

from his wins over Kovalyov and Gurevich (see PGN file).

In Moscow the new powerful generation of Vietnamese grandmasters

showed its teeth. In the penultimate round they were fighting side by side:

Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son-Najer was a good win with the Slav Exchange

Variation and Le Quang Liem-Savchenko a good win with the Queen's

Gambit Exchange Variation. Gajewski-Jojua was another very interesting

game with the QGD.

Grischuk contined his 1.d4 powerplay and again he is the winner of our

Game of the Week : this time around he beat Gashimov's Benoni. In the

diagram position he went for 10.¥f4. We felt the Queen's Indian was OK

again for Black, but still Grischuk found a way to get going as White against

Topalov. In the PGN file you'll find some interesting games with the English.

Source: Megabase + TWIC, 2500+ only

Whereas Topalov seems to be uninhibited by the upcoming match for the World Championship and Grischuk is simply having a fantastic

tournament, Aronian drew all his games. As you remember Aronian in top form wins all his games with White, but here in Linares he just

got boring positions from the opening. With Black he was suffering for 101 moves against

Grischuk and was dead lost at some point against Topalov. You got to give it to him that he

survived both games, but the genious from Armenia seems to be in a minor creative crisis.

WHAT’S NOT?

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

No. 60, February 24, 2010

Benoni theme tournament

In Linares there were no less than four Benoni games (we'll look at the last round next

week). Gashimov and Topalov typically start with a ‘Nimzo-Indian’ move order to prevent the

most critical lines. Grischuk managed the destroy the base (d6) of Black’s pawn structure.

GAME OF THE WEEK

view of 19.a5.

19.¤b5 ¥f8 20.¥d2!

Simple and strong.

20...a6

Grischuk, A (2736) - Gashimov, V (2759)

Linares, 21.02.2010

A62, Benoni, 7.g3

11.¦e1

11.h3 led to a splendid win for White in

Mikhalevski-Kraai (see CVO 51).

11...¥g4 12.£b3

A logical improvement over 12.h3 which had been

mainly played before, but there seems no need to

force the exchange of pieces.

12...¤h5 13.¥g5 £d7

Obviously, 13...f6 is too weakening.

14.¤d2 h6 15.¥e3

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15...¥f5?

Black tries to exploit the weak c2 square, but

he doesn ’ t have time for such cheap tricks. The

first move that springs to mind is 15...¦xe3?!

but after 16.fxe3 it ’ s not clear how Black should

continue. His pieces aren ’ t optimally placed, so

his compensation can be doubted. Probably best

is 15...¦ab8! 16.a4 (After 16.¤c4 Black obtains

a reasonable position by 16...b5 17.¤a5 ¤f6)

16...¤f6 with a playable position.

16.¤c4 ¤b4 17.¦ac1 ¦ab8

Not good is 17...b5? because of 18.¤xb5! £xb5

19.¤xd6 and the black position collapses.

18.a4

Like in the previous note, interesting is 18.¤b5 ,

but the text is a simpler option.

18...b6

A standard procedure to carry out the break on

the queenside with a6 and b5, but it turns out

Black is not in time. However, the attempt to save

a tempo by 18...a6 is clearly not recommended in

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21.¤bxd6!

The refutation of Black ’ s setup.

21...b5

After 21...¥xd6 22.e4 White wins his piece back

with interest, as the ¥ has no good square to

escape.

22.¤xe8 bxc4 23.£xc4 ¦xe8

Black is unable to keep the ¦ on the b-file by

23...£xe8 because of 24.g4.

24.¥xb4 cxb4 25.e4

Black ’ s pieces are unable to install a blockade on

the black squares, as White easily mobilizes his

centre.

25...¥g4

25...¥h3 26.¥xh3 £xh3 27.e5 doesn ’ t really

change the current situation.

26.e5 £f5 27.e6

If White aims to decide matters immediately

by 27.f3 ¥xf3 28.¦f1 £xe5 29.¥xf3 ¤f6 Black

struggles on, although the outcome of the game

is beyond dispute.

27...fxe6 28.dxe6 ¥e7 29.f3! ¥h3

The pawn is poisoned in view of 29...¥xf3 30.¦f1.

30.g4

White wins a piece and Gashimov just prolonges

the struggle until the timecontrol is over.

30...£g5 31.¥xh3 ¤f4 32.¥f1 ¦f8 33.£c7 h5

34.£e5 £h4 35.¦e4 ¤h3+ 36.¥xh3 £xh3

37.£g3 hxg4 38.£xh3 gxh3 39.¢f2 ¦d8

40.¢e2 1–0

1.d4 ¤f6 2.c4 e6 3.¤f3 c5 4.d5 d6

The Blumenfeld gambit is reached with 4...b5 and

recently covered in CVO 57.

5.¤c3 exd5 6.cxd5 g6 7.g3

Another interesting system for White is to put

his pawn on e3, preventing Black from obtaining

counterplay along the e-file: 7.¥f4 a6 (In the first

round Gashimov played 7...¥g7 , but failed to

equalize after 8.£a4+ ¥d7 9.£b3 b5 10.¥xd6 £b6

11.¥e5 0–0 12.e3 b4 (12...c4 is more common.)

13.¤b1 a5 14.a4 ¥g4 15.¤bd2 ¤bd7 16.¥b5

¦fd8 17.¥g3 Gelfand-Gashimov, Linares 2010.)

8.a4 ¥g7 9.h3 0–0 10.e3 ¤e8 11.¥e2 ¤d7 12.0–0

£e7 13.£b3?! (13.£c2 or 13.¦e1 are preferable.)

13...¦b8 14.¤d2 f5 15.¤c4 g5 16.¥h2 f4 17.exf4

gxf4 18.¦fe1 ¤e5 19.¤e4 b5 and Black went on

to win in Vallejo Pons-Gashimov, Linares 2010,

5th round.

7...¥g7 8.¥g2 0–0 9.0–0 ¦e8 10.¥f4

A natural developing move. However, the main

line goes 10.¤d2 a6 11.a4 ¤bd7 12.h3 ¦b8

13.¤c4 ¤b6 (13...¤e5 14.¤a3 ¤h5 leads to

sharper play.) 14.¤a3 ¥d7 15.e4 ¤c8 16.£d3

¦e7!? (a new idea) 17.¦b1 ¥e8 18.b4 cxb4

19.¦xb4 ¦c7 20.¥d2 ¤d7 with complex play in

Aronian-Topalov, Linares 2010, 3rd round.

10...¤a6

Black has several other possibilities at his

disposal:

a) 10...a6 11.a4 b6 was seen in Rodshtein-

Gashimov, Ohrid 2009 (CVO 41);

b) 10...¤e4 11.¤xe4 ¦xe4 12.¤d2 ¦b4 13.a3

¦xb2 14.¤c4 ¦b6 15.¤xb6 axb6 16.¦a2 b5

17.£d2 ¤a6 18.¦b1 ¤c7 19.e4 £f8 20.¦e1

¦a4 with compensation for the exchange in

Moiseenko-Miroshnichenko, Kharkov 2009;

c) 10...¤h5 11.¥g5 £b6 12.¦b1 (12.£c2 ¤d7

13.a4 ¤e5 14.a5 £a6 15.¤xe5 ¦xe5 16.¥d2 b5

17.axb6 £xb6= Akobian-Bluvshtein, Montreal

2009.) 12...¤d7 13.£a4 h6 14.¥d2 a6 15.b4 cxb4

16.¦xb4 £d8 17.¦h4 ¤c5 with double-edged

play in Grischuk-Gelfand, Moscow (blitz) 2009.

GRISCHUK - GASHIMOV

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

No. 60, February 24, 2010

THIS WEEK’S HARVEST

Sicilian Najdorf

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1.e4 c5 2.¤f3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.¤xd4 ¤f6 5.¤c3 a6 6.¥e3 ¤g4 7.¥c1 ¤f6 8.h3 ¤c6 9.g4 £b6 10.¤de2 e6 11.¥g2 ¥e7 12.b3

How far can you go if you want to surprise a Najdorf player? In CVO 23 we analysed Short-Grandelius, Malmo

2009, but this week's game Abergel-Negi and my (MvD) own dreadful experience with 6.£f3 (a lost position after

15 moves) suggest that 6...g6 is just a good reply. In fact the position after 7.h3 ¥g7 8.¥e3 ¥d7 9.g4 ¤c6 10.0–0–0

0–0 can also be reached after the fashionable 6.h3 (compare Alsina Leal-Van Wely, Lugo 2009), with the difference

that the white £ is better placed on d2 in that case. In an earlier game against Nakamura (Amsterdam 2009), Van

Wely couldn't solve his opening problems after 6.h3 e6 7.g4 d5 8.exd5 ¤xd5 9.¥d2! (also frequently played by So);

and that's why he switched to 6...g6. Grischuk has his own line with 8...¤c6 (we are two moves ahead because of

the move repetition) 9.g4 £b6 after which Topalov got the game on new territory with 10.¤de2 and 12.b3!?. After

the typical Velimirovic sacrifice 21.¤f5! the board was on fire, with Topalov coming out on top after the dust cleared.

Queen's Indian

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1.d4 ¤f6 2.c4 e6 3.¤f3 b6 4.g3 ¥a6 5.b3 ¥b4+ 6.¥d2 ¥e7 7.¤c3 0–0 8.¦c1 ¥a3

9.¦c2 ¤c6 10.¥g5 h6 11.¥xf6 £xf6 12.¥g2 d5 13.0–0 13...dxc4 14.bxc4 ¦ad8 15.¦d2

Many people thought the tournament was over with Topalov freewheeling to the finish. Nothing was further from

the truth as the reversed pairing Grischuk-Topalov was still on. With his pet line 7.¤c3 against the Queen's

Indian Grischuk is enjoying a perfect score so far. At the start of the year he beat Vescovi in a game that we

offered as a positional excercise in CVO 53. Both 8.¦c1!? and 8...¥a3!? are very modern moves (8...d5 would be

more conservative) after which we soon leave the book. 13.0–0! was the first new move. In the diagram position

Topalov gave up his bishop pair with 15...¥b4 16.£b3 ¥xc3 but maybe he shouldn't be in a hurry to do so. Instead

15...¥xc4?? 16.£a4 would be a blunder, but 15...¥b7 looks normal. Our first impression is that Black should be

fine, but if he sticks to neutral moves, White may indeed be enjoying a slight positional initiative. In his perpetual

time-trouble Grischuk stayed very cool and managed to maintain his winning position.

Semi-Slav, Moscow

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1.¤f3 ¤f6 2.c4 c6 3.¤c3 d5 4.d4 e6 5.¥g5 h6 6.¥xf6 £xf6 7.e3 ¤d7 8.¥d3

dxc4 9.¥xc4 g6 10.0–0 ¥g7 11.e4 e5 12.d5 ¤b6 13.¥b3 0–0 14.¦c1 ¦d8 15.h3

Whereas the Anti-Moscow (6.¥h4) leads to heavily analysed positions, the Moscow (6.¥xf6) offers quieter play,

which doesn't mean White is less eager to play for an opening advantage. On the contrary, by giving up the ¥ for

the ¤ at such an early stage, Topalov shows his willingness to outplay his opponent in a strategical middlegame.

With 15.h3 the Bulgarian deviated from Bacrot-Aronian, in which the latter comfortably held on after 15.£e2 ¥g4.

The Armenian was unable to deal with Topalovs new concept and quickly went wrong with 17...¥f8?! (17...¦ac8

was called for). Topalov energetically exploited Black's inaccuracy by transforming the pawn structure with 20.exd5,

clearing the e4 square for the ¤. White's strategy became a great success after opening the kingside with h-pawn,

but the world's number 2 forgot to finish the game off with the rather simple 34.¦xe4!. Apart from 17...¦ac8, Black

still has the option to return to the main line with 13...¥g4 (or 14...¥g4). However, in Aronian-Gelfand White proved

to have a lasting advantage in the ending due to Black's weak c-pawn.

QGD, 5.¥f4

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1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.¤c3 ¥e7 4.¤f3 ¤f6 5.¥g5 0–0 6.e3 h6 7.¥h4 ¤e4 8.¥xe7 £xe7 9.¦c1 c6

10.¥d3 ¤xc3 11.¦xc3 dxc4 12.¥xc4 ¤d7 13.0–0 e5 14.¥b3 ¦d8 15.¦e1 exd4 16.exd4 £d6 17.g4

In earlier issues we have examined the most trendy lines of the Queen's Gambit Declined after 5.¥f4. This week

creative Polish GM Gajewski launched a very controversial new idea in a well-known position of the Lasker

variation (7...¤e4). It goes without saying that from a strategical point of view White's 17.g4 looks horrible. However,

as Black's pieces aren't fully developed, the advance of the g-pawn seems to be justified as Black experiences

some problems defending the weak spot on f7. After the logical sequence 17...¤f6 18.g5 ¤d5, White is more or

less forced to exchange the ¥ for the ¤ on d5, but even after that we are unable to prove an edge for White. Had

the pawn been on g2, White could have claimed a clear plus due to the ¤'s superiority over the bad ¥, but since

the pawn is on g5, the weakened white squares offer the ¥ sufficient counter chances. White's best chance would

have been 22.£f4 g6 23.¦ec1, but after 23...¦e8! Black neutralizes White's initiative along the c-file.

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

No. 60, February 24, 2010

IT'S YOUR MOVE

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LAST WEEK'S SOLUTIONS

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Belov-Dreev, Aeroflot Open 2010

A very unbalanced position has arisen. From a structural point of view Black is doing fine, but his main problem

is his ¢. Dreev comes up with an original solution: 17...¢d8! An excellent idea. Since White is missing his dark

squared ¥, the ¢ is able to run over to the queenside. 17...e6?! is inaccurate, in view of 18.f5! when 18...e5 is

strongly met by 19.¤g4!. 18.0–0 ¢c7 19.a4 ¢b8 20.¥b5 In case of 20.b4 Black generates counterplay with 20...

d4!. 20...e6 21.¥xc6 £xc6 22.¤d3 ½–½

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Bacrot-Lenic, Aeroflot Open 2010

In dealing with the diagram position most people will be tempted to push their f-pawn with either f3 or f4. Bacrot,

who is one of the finest positional players around, decided against weakening the Achilles' heel of his position

and looked for an alternative way to employ his heavy pieces. Since ¥g4 prevents the direct doubling of rooks,

he found an alternative way: 24.¦c1! Nimzowitsch called this a ‘ mysterious rook move ’ . 24...¦af8 25.£c3 £f7

26.¦cc2! Elegantly defending f2 from aside. 26...£c7 27.¦d3 £f7 28.£d2 £c7 29.£e1 ¥e6 30.a4 £b6 31.b3

£b4 32.£a1! Throwing in the hypermodern Reti move. 32...¥c8 33.¦cd2 ¦e6 34.£d1! Trippling the heavy

pieces on the d-file with the £ behind, in textbook fashion. 34...£b6 35.¦d8 £c7 36.h4 ¢g7?? Facing a tough

defence, Black throws away the game in one move. 37.¦8d7+ 1–0

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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