openings 221 | March 27n 2013

what’s hot and what’s not?

XIIIIIIIIY
Carlsen taking 9r+lwqk+-tr0
9+-zp-vlpzpp0

over the lead

9p+nzp-sn-+0
9+p+-zp-+-0
9P+-+P+-+0
9+L+P+N+-0
9-zPP+-zPPzP0
IM Merijn van Delft & IM Robert Ris
9tRNvLQ+RmK-0
xiiiiiiiiy
In this issue we cover round four to nine of the Candidates' Frequency
Tournament in London. In the eventful ninth round Carlsen
survived with Black against Kramnik, while Aronian
dramatically lost to Gelfand.

what'shot?
Score
The 4.d3 Anti-Berlin can give rise to long complex battles with chances
for both sides. In Carlsen-Grischuk White outplayed his opponent, while
in Radjabov-Aronian Black eventually came out on top. In our Game of
the Week Svidler-Carlsen, the latter showed that he handles the Ruy
Lopez excellently from the black side as well. Carlsen-Radjabov (see
below) and Grischuk-Gelfand were very tense 3.Bb5 Sicilian encounters.

In Aronian-Svidler Black comfortably drew a QGA. The top pairing

Carlsen-Aronian was a quiet draw in the Catalan (see p.4), which
Carlsen used to calm down from his game against Radjabov. Kramnik
created highly interesting play in the Catalan against both Ivanchuk (see
CVT 100) and Carlsen (see below), but didn't manage to get more than
a draw in both games. Aronian-Grischuk was an advantage for White in
the Queen's Indian, but Black defended skilfully.

The endgames of Kramnik-Aronian (Reti) and Kramnik-Svidler (Grünfeld)

will be covered in CVT. In Ivanchuk-Carlsen (4.¥f4) and Svidler-Gelfand
(5.¥d2, see below) White also got good chances against the Grünfeld,
but both games were drawn. Incidentally, Postny-Mikhalevski is a
relevant 3.f3 Grünfeld from the Belgian League. Svidler-Grischuk (King's Source: Megabase + TWIC, 2500+ only
Indian) is covered below, while Radjabov-Gelfand (strong novelty in the
Symmetrical English) and Gelfand-Ivanchuk (Chigorin Defence, amazing
finish) are further study material.

The Queen's Gambit Declined has made a major comeback to top-level chess, but in London this week Black had a fair share of
suffering. In Grischuk-Radjabov White had an edge, but Black confused the issue with a piece sacrifice. Ivanchuk-Radjabov was a
nice technical win for White. Most relevantly, Gelfand-Aronian, a QGD turning into a Stonewall, ended in
disaster for Black (see PGN). The novelty 13...¥c8!? in Giri-Naiditsch also deserves a mention. what’snot?
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 openings what’s hot and what’s not?
Handling the Ruy Lopez with either colour
Svidler and Carlsen both play the Ruy Lopez, and Anti-Marshall positions in particular, with
either side, but there remain so many subtleties that it’s easy to lose track. Carlsen produced
a model game for Black.
gameoftheweek Svidler - Carlsen
Svidler,P (2747) - Carlsen,M (2872)
FIDE Candidates (London), 21.03.2013
C84, Ruy Lopez, 6.d3
1.e4 e5 2.¤f3 ¤c6 3.¥b5 a6 4.¥a4 ¤f6 5.0–0
¥e7 6.d3
This modest move has replaced the former
main line with 6.¦e1 as White fails to prove an
advantage against the Marshall.
6...b5
A more flexible continuation is 6...d6 which
was played by Sokolov against Naiditsch
(CVO 169).
7.¥b3 d6 8.a4
8.a3 was Anand's choice earlier this year in his
game versus Caruana (CVO 211) and he later
repeated it against Adams in Baden-Baden
(CVO 217).
8...b4
Carlsen decides to transpose to lines which
are known from the Anti-Marshall with 8.a4.
A more flexible option is 8...¥d7 which can be
found in CVO 133, 157, 207 and 213.
9.¤bd2 0–0
Another option is 9...¤a5 which has the
advantage of preventing White's next move.
10.a5 ¥e6 11.¤c4 ¦b8 12.c3 bxc3 13.bxc3
h6 14.¦e1 £c8 15.¥c2
Svidler is the first to deviate from established
theory. 15.¥a4 ¥xc4 16.¥xc6 (16.dxc4 ¤xa5
drops a §.) 16...¥b5 17.¥xb5 ¦xb5 18.c4 ¦b7
19.d4 c5 20.d5 (20.dxe5 dxe5 21.¤xe5 £e6
22.¥f4 ¦d8 gives Black sufficient compensation
for the §.) 20...¤h7 21.£c2 £d7 22.¥d2 ¤g5
23.¤xg5 ¥xg5 and, because of the control of
the b-file, Black had a comfortable position
in Leko-Adams, London 2012. 15.¥a3 ¦d8
16.£c2 ¥f8 (16...¤h5!?) 17.¤fd2 ¤a7 18.¤e3
¥xb3 19.¤xb3 £d7 was more or less equal in
Kasimdzhanov-Sargissian, Germany 2005.
15...¦d8
Black should refrain from 15...¥xc4? 16.dxc4
which gives White the upper hand. Ideas like
¤h4–f5–e3 come strongly in for consideration.
16.£e2 ¥f8 17.¤e3?!
White should proceed with a waiting move
such as 17.h3, keeping the central tension.
After the text Black grabs the initiative in the
centre.
17...d5! 18.exd5 ¤xd5 19.¤xd5 ¦xd5
19...¥xd5! seems more accurate, controlling
the e4 square. White can't win a § with
20.¤xe5 ¤xe5 21.£xe5 because of 21...¦e8
22.£xe8 £g4! 23.£e4 ¥xe4 24.¦xe4 and
Black's playing for a win.
20.h3
Svidler intended to play 20.d4 until he realised
that after 20...exd4 21.¥e4 ¦xa5 Black remains
on top. Probably White's best continuation would
have been 20.£e4! trying to generate some
counterplay. For example, 20...f5 (20...¤xa5?
21.c4!; 20...¦xa5? 21.¦xa5 ¤xa5 22.d4 and
White is taking over.) 21.£e2 ¦c5 22.c4 e4
23.dxe4 ¥xc4 24.£d1 and the opening of the
centre offers White excellent play.
20...¥f5! 21.¦d1 £e6 22.¥b1 £d7 23.¥e3 e4
24.¤d4 ¤xd4
XIIIIIIIIY
9-tr-+-vlk+0
9+-zpq+pzp-0
9p+-+-+-zp0
9zP-+r+l+-0
9-+-snp+-+0
9+-zPPvL-+P0
9-+-+QzPP+0
9tRL+R+-mK-0
xiiiiiiiiy
25.¥xd4?
Better was 25.cxd4 but after 25...exd3 26.¥xd3
¥xd3 27.£xd3 ¦bb5 Svidler felt his position
was pretty close to lost for him. However,
things aren't that simple after 28.¦dc1 ¦xa5
(28...c5 29.¦cb1 cxd4 30.¦xb5 ¦xb5 31.£xd4
and White is still fighting.) 29.¦xa5 ¦xa5
30.£c3 and White regains the §.
25...exd3?
Carlsen misses a great opportunity with
25...¥xh3! and now 26.dxe4 ¦g5 27.g3
¥g4 28.f3 can be met strongly by 28...¦b2!
221 | March 27n 2013
29.£xb2 ¥xf3 30.¦f1 (30.¦d2 £h3 with a
crushing attack.) 30...¦xg3+ 31.¢f2 ¦g2+ and
Black picks up the £.
26.¥xd3 ¥xd3 27.¦xd3 c5 28.¥e5 ¦xd3
Black can't win material with 28...¦e8 because
after 29.¦e3 White unpins the ¥.
29.¥xb8 c4!
Fixing the weak § on c3. Understandably,
Black refrains from 29...¦xc3 30.£xa6 when
the tables are suddenly turned.
30.¥e5 ¥c5 31.¦b1 £d5!
The Russian GM was hoping for 31...f6 32.¥d4
¥xd4 33.cxd4 ¦xd4 and despite the minus §,
White retains good drawing chances after
34.¦b8+ ¢h7 35.£e8
32.¦b8+ ¢h7
XIIIIIIIIY
9-tR-+-+-+0
9+-+-+pzpk0
9p+-+-+-zp0
9zP-vlqvL-+-0
9-+p+-+-+0
9+-zPr+-+P0
9-+-+QzPP+0
9+-+-+-mK-0
xiiiiiiiiy
33.£h5?
33.¦e8 would have been more stubborn, even
though Black retains excellent prospects after
33...£d7! but not 33...¦d2? which runs into
34.£g4! and Black is in trouble.
33...£e4!
Black has to be careful, as something like
33...£d7? (preventing 34.£f5), loses to
34.¦h8+ ¢xh8 35.£xh6+ ¢g8 36.£xg7#.
34.¦b2
34.¦h8+ doesn't have the desired effect in
view of 34...¢xh8 35.£xh6+ £h7 36.¥xg7+
¢g8 and Black wins. 34.¥d4 can be met by
34...£e1+ 35.¢h2 ¥d6+ 36.g3 ¦xg3! and
mate follows soon.
34...¦d5 35.¦e2 £b1+ 36.¢h2 f6 and White
resigned, as the loss of material can't be
avoided. 0–1
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 openings what’s hot and what’s not? 221 | March 27n 2013

thisweek’sharvest

Sicilian, Rossolimo 1.e4 c5 2.¤f3 ¤c6 3.¥b5 e6 4.¥xc6 bxc6 5.b3 d6 6.0–0 ¤e7 7.e5 ¤g6 8.exd6 ¥xd6 9.¤c3 e5 10.¦e1 0–0 11.d3 f5
XIIIIIIIIY 12.¥a3 ¥e6 13.¤a4 £e7 14.c4 ¦ad8 15.£e2 ¥c8 16.£e3 f4 17.£e4 ¢h8 18.¦ad1 ¥g4 19.¦d2 ¥xf3 20.£xf3 ¤h4
9-+-tr-tr-mk0 The game Carlsen-Radjabov from the seventh round was drawn, but had a remarkably negative inpact on
9zp-+-wq-zpp0 both (!) players. Carlsen was seriously unhappy with his play, with tough pairings against Aronian and Kramnik
9-+pvl-+-+0 awaiting. Radjabov spoiled a winning position and hasn't recovered in subsequent rounds. At the last World
9+-zp-zp-+-0 Championship match Gelfand gave an impressive demonstration of how to handle black positions resulting from
9N+P+-zp-sn0 4.¥xc6 in the most dynamic way (see CVO 178 and 179). With his novelty 6...¤e7!N instead of the more static
6...e5, Radjabov played in the exact same spirit. Carlsen possibly should have followed a more central strategy
9vLP+P+Q+-0
instead of going after the c5 pawn, and in the diagram position the world number one underestimated the danger
9P+-tR-zPPzP0 on the kingside by playing 21.£e4?? instead of 21.£g4. Only after Radjabov had missed some chances did
9+-+-tR-mK-0 Carlsen get the compensation for the exchange he was looking for.
xiiiiiiiiy

1.d4 ¤f6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 d5 4.¥g2 ¥e7 5.¤f3 0–0 6.0–0 dxc4 7.¤e5 ¤c6 8.¥xc6 bxc6 9.¤xc6 £e8 Open Catalan
10.¤xe7+ £xe7 11.£c2 e5 12.¦d1 ¦b8 13.¤c3 h6 14.dxe5 £xe5 15.¥f4 £e7 16.¦d4 ¥e6 17.¦ad1 XIIIIIIIIY
Trailing leader Carlsen by a full point, Kramnik found himself already more or less in a must-win situation. Not 9-tr-+-trk+0
surprisingly for this special occasion, the Russian player decided to uncork a strong new idea in a heavily- 9zp-zp-wqpzp-0
analysed position. In the Main Line of the Catalan with 7.¤e5 he introduced the new set-up with 11.£c2 and 9-+-+lsn-zp0
12.¦d1. Compared with 11.£a4 White isn't really interested in regaining the § on c4 right away, but rather keeps
9+-+-+-+-0
control over the centre and protects the § on e2. Evidently Carlsen wasn't as well prepared as his opponent
and in the diagram White has the kind of advantage he had been dreaming of in this variation. White's pieces
9-+ptR-vL-+0
are better coordinated and, thanks to the strong ¤ on c3, the doubled c-pawns can't do any damage even after
9+-sN-+-zP-0
the black ¦s have eliminated the § on b2. However, with the very precise moves 22...¦e8! and 25...¤d5! the 9PzPQ+PzP-zP0
Norwegian managed to save the game without too many problems. Considering this specific set-up is rather 9+-+R+-mK-0
fresh, there's still enough scope for refining White's play. xiiiiiiiiy

1.d4 ¤f6 2.c4 g6 3.¤c3 d5 4.cxd5 ¤xd5 5.¥d2 ¤b6 6.e3 ¥g7 7.f4 0–0
Grünfeld, 5.¥d2 8.¤f3 ¥g4 9.h3 ¥xf3 10.£xf3 c6 11.h4 ¤8d7 12.h5 e6 13.hxg6 hxg6 14.e4 f5
XIIIIIIIIY When a top GM plays against his own opening, special attention has to be paid. In Svidler-Gelfand it's White
9r+-wq-trk+0 who introduced a fascinating new idea as early as move 7 in the Grünfeld. In the variation with 4.cxd5 ¤xd5
9zpp+n+-vl-0 5.¥d2 Black retreated his ¤ to b6 in order to exert pressure on the d4 §. Normally White first activates the ¥ by
9-snp+p+p+0 placing it on f4 before playing e3, but Svidler thought differently. Instead, he played 6.e3 ¥g7 and now, rather
9+-+-+p+-0 than completing development with 7.¤f3 which gives Black comfortable play after 7...¤c6 & 8...e5, he opted
9-+-zPPzP-+0 for the very doubled-edged 7.f4!?. White's aim was to gain a further grip on the centre and thus deprive Black
from any central break connected with an early ...e5. Evidently Gelfand was unpleasantly surprised and after the
9+-sN-+Q+-0
careless moves 8...¥g4? and 10...c6? White enjoyed a great space advantage. Instead Black should have tried
9PzP-vL-+P+0 undermining the centre with ...c5, supported by the preparatory ¤bd7. In the diagram White could have retained
9tR-+-mKL+R0 a clear advantage with 15.e5! keeping his opponent's back against the wall.
xiiiiiiiiy

1.d4 ¤f6 2.c4 g6 3.¤c3 ¥g7 4.e4 d6 5.f3 0–0 6.¥e3 c5 7.¤ge2 ¤c6 8.d5 ¤e5 9.¤g3 h5 10.¥e2 h4 11.¤f1 e6 12.f4 ¤xc4 13.¥xc4 KID, Sämisch
b5 14.¥xb5 exd5 15.e5 dxe5 16.fxe5 ¥g4 17.exf6 ¥xd1 18.fxg7 ¢xg7 19.¥xc5 h3 20.¦xd1 hxg2 21.¦g1 gxf1£+ 22.¢xf1 £h4 XIIIIIIIIY
One of the most spectacular games in London so far was Svidler-Grischuk. The latter refrained from 8...¤a5 9r+-+-tr-+0
which he had played a few times last year (and which was also played in Svidler-Radjabov in the third round 9zp-+-+pmk-0
and covered last week in CVO 220) and after the critical 12.f4 Grischuk played the great new piece sacrifice 9-+-+-+p+0
12...¤xc4!!, which was possibly inspired by 12...h3!? 13.gxh3 ¤xc4!! which was played by the young Indian 9+LvLp+-+-0
grandmaster Adhiban two years ago. Black gets a powerful initiative and sometimes even makes a ¦ sacrifice
9-+-+-+-wq0
out of it. Svidler found a way to transform the position into ¥¥¤¦¦ versus £¦¦ and became very optimistic, but
he had missed 19...h3! when his ¢ position was opened up after all. Black's most important strategical guideline
9+-sN-+-+-0
in such positions is to sacrifice an exchange to eliminate the bishop pair. In the game Grischuk eventually ended
9PzP-+-+-zP0
up giving up both(!) his rooks for both white bishops, with a dynamic balance remaining. 9+-+R+KtR-0
xiiiiiiiiy
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 openings what’s hot and what’s not? 221 | March 27n 2013

it’syourmove
XIIIIIIIIY XIIIIIIIIY
O 9rwq-+n+k+0 o9q+-+-trk+0
9+l+-+pzpp0 9trlzpn+pzpp0
9pzp-vlp+-+0 9p+-vlpsn-+0
9+-+-+-+-0 9+p+-+-+-0
9-+-zPN+-+0 9-zP-zP-+-sN0
9+-+L+NzP-0 9zP-sN-+-zP-0
9PzP-+QzP-zP0 9-+QvLPzPLzP0
9+-tR-+-mK-0 9tR-+-+RmK-0
xiiiiiiiiy xiiiiiiiiy

lastweek’ssolutions
XIIIIIIIIY
Adams-Piorun, Bundesliga (Baden Baden), 2013 9r+-wqk+-tr0
This position stems from a Sicilian Rossolimo. Last week we featured the games of two strong GMs. However, 9+p+-vlpzpp0
neither white player played the strongest continuation. 13.¥g2 Another game played this week went 13.d5 but 9p+nzp-snl+0
after 13...¤b8 14.£b3 ¤bd7 15.£xb7 ¤c5 16.£b4 0–0 17.¤d2 h5 18.f3 hxg4 19.hxg4 ¤h7 Black developed a 9+-+-zp-+-0
dangerous initiative on the kingside: Kovacevic-Perunovic, Skopje 2013. In fact, White's best move seems to be
9-+-zPP+P+0
13.¤d5! 0–0 (13...¤xe4 14.£b3! seems rather dangerous for Black.) 14.¤xe7+ £xe7 15.d5 ¤b8 16.¥g5 (Also
worth considering is 16.¤h4!? with the idea of meeting 16...¥xe4? with 17.g5!) 16...¤bd7 17.¤d2 ¦fc8 18.£b3
9+-sN-+N+P0
h6 19.¥h4 b5 20.f3 and White's edge is beyond dispute in Efimenko-Moiseenko, Kiev 2012. 13...0–0 14.dxe5
9PzP-+-zP-+0
dxe5 15.¥g5 h5 16.¤d5 hxg4 17.hxg4 ¦e8 18.¥xf6 ¥xf6 19.£b3 ¤a5 (See PGN for the rest of this game.) 9tR-vLQtRLmK-0
XIIIIIIIIY xiiiiiiiiy
9r+-wqkvl-tr0 Hracek-Appel, Bundesliga (Solingen), 2013
9zpp+n+pzpp0 10.a3! There is no need to defend passively with 10.¤a3; 10.¤c3 ¤c2 11.¦b1!N ¤b4 12.¥g5 f6 13.¥e3 ¥xb1
9-+p+p+-+0 14.£xb1 is an interesting exchange sacrifice, though. 10...¤a6 10...¤c2 11.¦a2 ¤xd4 12.£xd4 ¥xb1 13.¥g5
9+-+-+l+-0 f6 14.¦xb1 fxg5 and now 15.¦d1 or 15.£e3 gives White a large advantage. 11.¤c3 ¥e7 12.d5! White already
has a big positional advantage, which he went on to convert convincingly: 12...c5 13.¥d3 ¥xd3 14.£xd3 ¤b6
9-snPzP-+-+0
15.¥f4 0–0 16.¦ad1 ¥f6 17.¦fe1 h6 18.¤e5 exd5 19.cxd5 ¥g5 20.¥xg5 £xg5 21.d6 ¦ad8 22.£e4 ¦fe8 23.f4
9+-+-+N+-0 £f6 24.d7 ¦e6 25.f5 ¦xe5 26.£xe5 £xe5 27.¦xe5 ¢f8 28.¤b5 ¦xd7 29.¦xd7 ¤xd7 30.¦e2 c4 31.¤d6 ¤c7
9PzP-+LzPPzP0 1–0
9tRNvLQ+RmK-0
xiiiiiiiiy

openings
ChessVibes Openings is a weekly PDF magazine that covers the latest news on chess openings. Which openings are hot in
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