openings 250 | October 16n 2013

what’s hot and what’s not?

XIIIIIIIIY
Peter Svidler wins 9r+lwqkvl-tr0
9zppzpp+pzpp0

Russian Championship
9-+n+-sn-+0
9+L+-zp-+-0
9-+-+P+-+0
9+-+P+N+-0
9PzPP+-zPPzP0
IM Merijn van Delft & IM Robert Ris
9tRNvLQmK-+R0
xiiiiiiiiy
For the seventh time in his career Svidler won the Russian Frequency
Championship – a record. We also take a look at the Bilbao
Masters won by Aronian and the Kings’ Tournament led by
Caruana.

what’shot?
Score
The Anti-Berlin with 4.d3 was an important battle ground this week. In
our Game of the Week, Svidler-Andreikin, Black played 4...d6 in the
diagram position, but went astray in a tense middlegame. One round later
Motylev-Kramnik saw 4...¥c5 and this time around Black won the battle
for the initiative. Below we examine the high-class Ruy Lopez game
Adams-Aronian. Nepomniachtchi has come up with an important novelty
for White in the 6.f4 Taimanov (see below). Radjabov started attacking
with Black in the Rossolimo, but Caruana just took all the pieces and
calmly defended. With Black in the 2...e6 3.g3 Sicilian, Caruana also just
grabbed material and went on to beat Ponomariov.

Adams is still in good shape and convincingly drew with Aronian and
Mamedyarov with Black in the QGD. Svidler slowly but surely outplayed
Motylev in the positional Moscow Variation of the Semi-Slav. Below
we update you on the Meran and the 4.£c2 0-0 5.¤f3 Nimzo-Indian.
Mamedyarov-Vachier Lagrave was a fantastic dynamic battle in the
Grünfeld. Kramnik keeps avoiding theory in most of his white games.
Against Goganov he won a long struggle starting with 1.¤f3 ¤f6 2.g3 c5
3.¥g2 g6 4.d4, and against Inarkiev his choice was 1.e5 c5 2.b3, which
he also used to beat Kobalia in the recent World Cup. Source: Megabase + TWIC, 2500+ only

Karjakin has been struggling lately. He generally doesn't avoid theoretical fights, but he is lacking some punch in this field. With White
against Inarkiev a Marshall endgame was duly drawn, and two Grünfeld main lines against Nepomniachtchi and Svidler were also
drawn. With Black, Karjakin actually scored 2 out of 3 from his Nimzo-Indian repertoire, which allowed
him to finish the tournament on 50%, but a potential World Champion should score more. what’snot?
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 openings what’s hot and what’s not?
Winning with the Anti-Berlin
It’s very difficult to prove even the slightest of edges against the Berlin Defence, but with
4.d3 it’s at least possible to reach a tense middlegame position which is rich with tactical
possibilities. Svidler made the most of them in round four of the Russian Championship.
gameoftheweek Svidler - Andreikin
Svidler,P (2740) - Andreikin,D (2706)
Russian Ch (Nizhny Novgorod), 08.10.2013
C65, Ruy Lopez, Anti-Berlin
1.e4 e5 2.¤f3 ¤c6 3.¥b5 ¤f6 4.d3
In the previous round Andreikin managed to
surprise leading Berlin expert Kramnik in the
side-line 4.0–0 ¤xe4 5.d4 ¤d6 6.dxe5 (The
main line continues 6.¥xc6 dxc6 7.dxe5 ¤f5
8.£xd8+ ¢xd8 and we gave an update on it
in CVO 239.) 6...¤xb5 7.a4, but in CVO 249
we pointed out some ideas to improve Black's
play. Khismatullin seems to have come to
the same conclusion: 7...¤bd4 8.¤xd4 ¤xd4
9.£xd4 d5 10.exd6 £xd6 11.£e3+ ¥e6
12.¤c3 a6 13.¦d1 £c6 14.¦d3 ¥e7 15.¤e2
¥c4 16.¦d1 ¦d8 17.¦xd8+ ¢xd8 18.¤d4 £d7
19.£c3 ¥f6 20.£xc4 £xd4 21.£xd4+ ¥xd4
and soon a draw was agreed in Areshchenko-
Khismatullin, St Petersburg 2013.
4...d6
The main continuation is 4...¥c5 which has
been covered several times in CVO, most
recently in no. 229.
5.0–0
In the game Anand-Naiditsch, Baden-Baden
2013, White played 5.c3 which we examined
extensively in CVO 215. Svidler opts for a
different set-up.
5...¥d7 6.c4 g6 7.¤c3 ¥g7 8.¥e3
8.h3 was seen in Efimenko-Aleksandrov,
Plovdiv 2012, and now Black could have
considered 8...¤d4!?.
8...0–0 9.h3 ¤b8
A few days after the present game Black
attempted to improve upon Andreikin's play
with 9...a6 and after 10.¥a4 ¦b8 11.¦c1 ¢h8
12.¦e1 ¥e6 13.a3 ¤h5 14.¤d5 ¤d4 15.¤xd4
exd4 16.¥d2 c6 17.¤f4 ¤xf4 18.¥xf4 ¥e5
the position was quite balanced in Vaibhav-
Sokolov, Jakarta 2013.
10.£b3
The £ doesn't seem to be particularly well
placed here so instead something like 10.¦c1
comes in for serious consideration.
250 | October 16n 2013
10...c6 11.¥a4 £c8 12.£d1 stubborn would have been 21...¦ad8 with just
The immediate 12.d4?! is inferior in view of a slight edge for White.
12...¥xh3! 13.dxe5 (13.gxh3? £xh3 14.£d1 22.¥xg7 ¢xg7 23.£d2 £b6+ 24.¦f2!
¤g4 looks pretty bad for White.) 13...¥xg2 More precise than 24.¢h2 ¥xc4 when the ¦
14.¢xg2 £g4+ 15.¢h2 £h5+ 16.¢g2 £g4+ on f1 is en prise.
and White can't avoid the repetition. 24...¥xc4
12...¤a6 13.d4 exd4 14.¥xd4 ¥e6 15.£e2 24...£xb2 can be strongly answered with
¦e8 16.¦ad1 ¤c5 17.¥c2 25.£d4+! ¤hf6 26.e5 dxe5 27.fxe5 and Black's
XIIIIIIIIY position seems to fall apart.
9r+q+r+k+0 25.¤a4 £c7
9zpp+-+pvlp0 Black also collapses after 25...£a6 26.£c3+
9-+pzplsnp+0 ¤hf6 27.¦xd6+–
26.£c3+ ¤hf6
9+-sn-+-+-0
If 26...¢g8 27.£xc4 b5 28.£b4 bxa4 29.£xd6
9-+PvLP+-+0 White obtains an overwhelming advantage in
9+-sN-+N+P0 the endgame.
9PzPL+QzPP+0 27.£xc4 b5 28.£b4 bxa4 29.¦xd6
9+-+R+RmK-0 29.£xd6? can't be recommended now
xiiiiiiiiy because of 29...£xd6 30.¦xd6 ¤c5 and Black
In this type of structure it's well known that stays in the game.
exchanging on c5 with 17.¥xc5?! dxc5 gives 29...¦ab8 30.£d2 ¦ed8
Black a firm grip on the dark squares. 30...¦xb2 fails to 31.e5 ¤e4 32.£d4! and there
17...¤cd7? are too many threats to deal with for Black.
Black loses momentum. He could have 31.e5 ¤e8 32.£c3!
changed the course of the game had he XIIIIIIIIY
played 17...b5! when the position gets messy, 9-tr-trn+-+0
e.g. 18.cxb5 cxb5 19.¤xb5 ¤cxe4 20.¥xf6 9zp-wqn+pmk-0
(20.¥xe4?! is met by 20...¥c4!) 20...¥c4 9-+ptR-+pzp0
21.£xe4 and now:
9+-+-zP-+-0
a) 21...¦xe4 gives White the slightly better
prospects after 22.¤xd6 £b8 23.¤xe4 ¥xf1
9p+-+-zP-+0
24.¦d8+ £xd8 25.¥xd8 ¥xg2 26.¢xg2 ¦xd8
9zP-wQ-+N+P0
27.b3². 9-zPL+-tRP+0
b) 21...¥xb5 22.£d4 ¥xf6 23.£xf6 ¥xf1 24.¥a4 9+-+-+-mK-0
(24.¤g5 ¥c4!) 24...¦e6 25.£h4 ¥e2 26.¤g5 xiiiiiiiiy
h5 27.¦e1 £c4 28.£xc4 ¥xc4 29.¤xe6 ¥xe6 32...¤b6
with an equal position. Of course, the ¦ can't be taken with 32...¤xd6
18.¤g5 £c7 19.f4 £a5 20.a3 h6 21.¤f3? 33.exd6+ and Black drops the £ because
Strangely enough, Svidler refrained from of the discovery check. After the text Svidler
playing the simple 21.¤xe6! ¦xe6 (21...fxe6? finishes the game off efficiently.
runs into 22.e5!) 22.£f2 which seems to offer 33.¦xc6 £b7 34.f5 ¤d5
White a powerful initiative. After 34...gxf5 35.¤h4 things go from bad to
21...¤h5? worse.
A mistake in return, since the ¤ will be 35.£c5 £xb2 36.fxg6 f6 37.¤d4 1–0
misplaced on edge of the board. More
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 openings what’s hot and what’s not? 250 | October 16n 2013

thisweek’sharvest
1.e4 e5 2.¤f3 ¤c6 3.¥b5 a6 4.¥a4 ¤f6 5.0–0 ¥e7 6.d3 d6 7.c3 0–0 8.¦e1 b5 9.¥c2 d5
Ruy Lopez, 6.d3 10.¤bd2 d4 11.h3 ¤d7 12.¤b3 a5 13.a4 bxa4 14.¤bd2 ¤c5 15.¤c4 f6 16.¥xa4 ¤xa4 17.¦xa4
XIIIIIIIIY Fighting for the initiative with Black in the Ruy Lopez is often associated with the central thrust ...d6–d5, creating
9r+lwq-trk+0 some central tension. After e4xd5 Black generally obtains dynamic chances to compensate for the slightly
9+-zp-vl-zpp0 vulnerable § on e5. More complex positions appear when White keeps the tension and continues developing his
9-+n+-zp-+0 pieces, while retaining control over e4. In that case Black doesn't have too many useful moves and thus has to
9zp-+-zp-+-0 decide whether to take on e4 or advance the d-pawn. In Adams-Aronian the latter option was tried, whereas
9R+NzpP+-+0 the former was extensively analysed in CVO 189 in the game Grischuk-Svidler. After 10...d4 White intends to
proceed with 11.cxd4 exd4, but in the PGN file you'll see that Black has been doing well in this particular line.
9+-zPP+N+P0
Instead Adams attempted to force Black to take on c3, but in the diagram we recommend Black plays 17...¥e6,
9-zP-+-zPP+0 with about equal chances. It seems that 10...d4 is at least a more ambitious approach for Black to create some
9+-vLQtR-mK-0 imbalances in the position.
xiiiiiiiiy

1.e4 c5 2.¤f3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.¤xd4 ¤c6 5.¤c3 £c7 6.f4 a6 7.¤xc6 £xc6 8.¥d3 b5 9.£e2 ¥b7 10.¥d2 ¥c5 Sicilian, Taimanov
11.0–0–0 ¤e7 12.a3 0–0 13.£h5 f6 14.g4 ¦ac8 15.¦he1 £b6 16.¢b1 ¥d4 17.¤e2 ¥f2 18.¦f1 ¦f7 19.£h3 ¤g6 XIIIIIIIIY
The Taimanov Sicilian keeps developing at high speed. White is stuck in the English Attack for the moment, but 9-+r+-+k+0
this week in Nepomniachtchi-Vitiugov progress was made in the 6.f4 variation. In CVO 127 we analysed the 9+l+p+rzpp0
important game Naiditisch - Vachier-Lagrave, Mulhouse 2011, where White enjoyed a nice edge after 12...0–0– 9pwq-+pzpn+0
0 13.¢b1. Since then it has appeared that castling the other way with 12...0–0 should be OK for Black, but with 9+p+-+-+-0
the novelty 13.£h5!? White creates serious attacking chances. Actually, this may well be inspired by another 9-+-+PzPP+0
Naiditsch game (against Bryzgalin, Warsaw rapid 2011), which saw 12...¦c8 13.¢b1 0–0 14.£h5. These games
9zP-+L+-+Q0
had a similar course and in the PGN file we compare them. It seems that Black should include b5–b4 at the right
moment to secure enough counterplay, but it's not yet clear when. Basically the position may be dynamically
9-zPPvLNvl-zP0
balanced, but many questions remain unanswered. At least White has a new direction to work in against the
9+K+R+R+-0
Taimanov. Black should reconsider 7...bxc6 as an early alternative. xiiiiiiiiy

1.¤f3 ¤f6 2.c4 c6 3.¤c3 d5 4.e3 e6 5.d4 ¤bd7 6.¥d3 dxc4 7.¥xc4 b5 8.¥d3 ¥d6 9.0–0 0–0 10.£c2
Semi-Slav, Anti-Meran ¥b7 11.e4 e5 12.h3 exd4 13.¤xd4 g6 14.¦d1 £c7 15.¥h6 ¦fe8 16.¦ac1 a6 17.¤f3 ¦ad8 18.¥g5
XIIIIIIIIY The position after move ten can be reached through a Meran (6.¥d3) and an Anti-Meran (6.£c2) move order,
9-+-trr+k+0 and is therefore quite important. 11.a3 ¦c8 leads to the well-known game Aronian-Anand, Wijk aan Zee 2013
9+lwqn+p+p0 (analysed by the World Champion in CVT 100). After 11.e4 e5 12.h3 the main focus has been on 12...a6 so
9p+pvl-snp+0 far (see CVO 148), but this week in Vachier-Lagrave - Mamedyarov, Black introduced the novelty 12...exd4
9+p+-+-vL-0 13.¤xd4 g6!? (13...¤c5 is known from the game Ivanchuk-Gelfand, Moscow 2011). White now has to play
9-+-+P+-+0 accurately to keep any chances for an edge. After 14.¦d1 Black quickly equalized and in the diagram position
Mamedyarov even refrained from the simple 18...¥f4 19.¥xf4 £xf4, in favour of the more ambitious 18...£b8!?.
9+-sNL+N+P0
Black enjoyed a mild initiative for the next few moves, but around move 26 he completely lost track. Vachier-
9PzPQ+-zPP+0 Lagrave took advantage immediately with some tactical blows and won. Critical is 14.¤f3! b4 15.¤b1! c5 16.¥h6
9+-tRR+-mK-0 ¦e8 17.¤bd2 and here Black still needs to prove equality.
xiiiiiiiiy
1.d4 ¤f6 2.c4 e6 3.¤c3 ¥b4 4.£c2 0–0 5.¤f3 c5 6.dxc5 ¤a6 7.g3 ¤xc5 8.¥g2 b6 9.0–0 ¥xc3 10.£xc3
¥b7 11.b3 d5 12.cxd5 ¤xd5 13.£d4 £e7 14.¥a3 ¦fd8 15.¦ac1 ¦ac8 16.¥xc5 ¦xc5 17.¦xc5 bxc5 18.£b2 Nimzo-Indian, 4.£c2, 5.¤f3
The Classical Variation (4.£c2) in the Nimzo-Indian with 5.¤f3 has become a frequent visitor at elite tournaments XIIIIIIIIY
lately. In CVO 237 we reported on Mamedyarov's quick win against Topalov, after the latter lost track from a 9-+-tr-+k+0
perfectly playable position. Instead of the main move 8...¤ce4, Black has recently attempted to obtain equality 9zpl+-wqpzpp0
in that line by means of 8...b6. After 9.0–0 Black has an important decision to make: whether to take on c3 or 9-+-+p+-+0
play ¥b7 first. In the case of 9...¥b7, it seems that 10.¤b5! is quite annoying for Black which was confirmed this 9+-zpn+-+-0
week in Radjabov-Nisipeanu. In Gunina-T.Kosintseva, White opted for 10.¥f4 instead, but it doesn't seem that
9-+-+-+-+0
Black has too much to fear after 10...¤ce4 (see PGN file). Black's main problem is the dark-squared ¥ which
is running short of squares and hence in Vitiugov-Andreikin Black decided to take on c3, handing over an edge
9+P+-+NzP-0
to White in view of his pair of ¥s. In the diagram Vitiugov had just transformed into a favourable pawn structure
9PwQ-+PzPLzP0
and gradually increased his advantage by creating new targets on the kingside. 9+-+-+RmK-0
xiiiiiiiiy
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 openings what’s hot and what’s not? 250 | October 16n 2013

it’syourmove
XIIIIIIIIY XIIIIIIIIY
o 9r+-wqk+-tr0 o9-+r+-trk+0
9+p+nvlpzpp0 9zp-+qvlpzpp0
9-+p+psn-+0 9-zp-+psn-+0
9zp-+p+-+-0 9+-+p+n+-0
9-+PzPP+-+0 9-+-zP-+-+0
9zP-sNQ+N+-0 9+PsNQzPPzP-0
9-zP-vL-zPPzP0 9P+-vL-+LzP0
9tR-+-+RmK-0 9tR-+R+-mK-0
xiiiiiiiiy xiiiiiiiiy

lastweek’ssolutions
XIIIIIIIIY
Areshchenko-Sukhareva, Chigorin Memorial (St Petersburg), 2013 9rsnl+k+ntr0
The black ¥ is normally not well placed on c5 in the Sicilian and therefore often retreats either to a7 or e7. 9+-wq-+pzpp0
Areshchenko's play looks very strong and inspiring. 10.b4! 10.a4 b4! is certainly less clear. 10...¥a7 10...¥xb4 is 9p+-zpp+-+0
met by 11.¤xb5! 11.a4! bxa4 12.¦xa4 ¤f6 13.b5 13.£e2!? also comes into consideration: 13...0–0 14.e5 dxe5 9+pvl-+-+-0
15.£xe5 £xe5 16.¤xe5 ¥b7 17.¤c4 with some pressure for White. 13...a5? 13...0–0 would have been better.
9-+-+P+-+0
14.¦c4 £d8 15.e5 dxe5 16.¤xe5 16.¤e4! ¥b7 17.¥g5 looks even stronger, as 17...¥xe4 is met by 18.¥xe4
£xd1 19.¦xd1 ¤xe4 20.¦d8# 16...¥b7 17.¥g5 ¤bd7 18.¤xd7 £xd7 19.¥xf6 gxf6 20.¥e4 £xd1 21.¦xd1
9+-sNL+N+-0
¥xe4 22.¤xe4 0–0 23.¤xf6+ ¢g7 24.¤d7 ¦fd8 25.¦d3 ¥b8 26.b6 a4 27.¦g4+ ¢h8 28.b7 ¦a5 29.¤e5 1–0
9PzPPvL-zPPzP0
9tR-+Q+RmK-0
XIIIIIIIIY xiiiiiiiiy
9r+-+-+-tr0 Nakamura-Ponomariov, FIDE Grand Prix (Élancourt), 2013
9+l+-mkpzpp0 White has carelessly played a well-known line in the Nimzo-Indian with 4.£c2 which has a rather drawish
9-zp-+p+-+0 reputation. You have to be wary of tactical ideas even in these sorts of lines. Ponomariov played 17...¦hd8?! and
9sn-+-+-+-0 the game eventually ended in a draw. It's quite amazing that such world-class players should have overlooked
a simple alternative which grabs the initiative for Black: 17...¦ac8! is surprisingly annoying and White has to
9-+L+-+-+0
be extremely careful, e.g. 18.¢e2 (18.0–0 ¦hd8 19.b4 ¦xd2 20.bxa5 bxa5 leads to a very unpleasant ending
9zP-+-zP-+-0 for White, but he can perhaps hold it.) 18...¦xc4! 19.¤xc4 ¥a6 20.b4 (20.b3 ¤xb3 21.¦c3 ¤a5 22.¦hc1 ¦c8
9-zP-sN-zPPzP0 23.¢d3 ¦c5 and the pin causes White a lot of problems.) 20...¤xc4 21.a4 b5 22.a5 ¥b7 and if anyone's better,
9+-tR-mK-+R0 it's Black.
xiiiiiiiiy

openings
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