No.
40, October 7, 2009
OPENINGS
what’s hot and what’s not?
XIIIIIIIIY
The magician 9-+ktr-vl-tr0
9zppwqn+p+p0
9-+p+-+-+0
from Norway 9+-+-snN+-0
9P+-+-zp-+0
9+-sN-+-zP-0
By IM Merijn van Delft & IM Robert Ris
9-zPQ+PzPLzP0
9tR-+-mK-+R0
xiiiiiiiiy
This issue of CVO is obviously packed with Carlsen
games, as Norway’s number one is leading Pearl Frequency
Spring with a two (!) point difference. At the European
Club Cup the Armenian national squad is going for gold
again, after winning the last two Olympiads.
what’s hot?
Topalov-Leko was an Anti-Anti-Marshall in which Black had to work hard
for the draw. Radjabov got good winning chances with the Scotch against Score
Topalov’s 4...¤f6. In Ganguly-Acs Black followed last week’s Game of the
Week Carlsen-Leko for quite a while, but we are not sure all of Black’s
problems are solved. The Armenians also sticked to 4...¥c5 and with 8...
b6!? created their own speciality (see Najer-Pashikian and Areshchenko-
Sargissian in the PGN file).
Carlsen adopted Kasparov’s Najdorf and beat Jakovenko with it. Not
exclusively though, since he used his trusted Sveshnikov to draw comfortably
with Topalov. With White, the Norwegian avoided the Sveshnikov and used
3.¥b5 to beat Radjabov. In the Caro-Kann Almasi and Berkes have an
ongoing discussion; their lastest addition was another hard-fought draw.
Our Game of the Week Carlsen-Wang Yue belongs to the greatest
battles of 2009. In the diagram position Black went for the sharp 14...¤g6.
Aronian-Gelfand was a Semi-Slav in which 12...¤xc5!? followed Roiz-Giri
mentioned in CVO 33. The Grünfeld is all the rage at the moment. We have
another look at the Fianchetto Variation below and noticed that Wang Yue’s
4.¥f4 didn’t create any real problems for Black. Jakovenko-Topalov is also
fascinating study material. Source: Megabase + TWIC, 2500+ only
While the Najdorf and the Sveshnikov are currently doing well, the Dragon is under pressure. Leko went for the risk-free 9.0-0-0, but
accordingly didn’t get more than a draw (we are not sure why he avoided the critical 10.¢b1!?). Jakovenko instead went all-in with 9.¥c4
and was rewarded with a win against Radjabov. While all attention goes out to the Slav family
and the Grünfeld, the Nimzo (and Queen’s) Indian are not very hot this week. In Ganguly-
Meier Black was massacred in a kingside attack.
what’s Not?
1 of 4
ChessVibes OPENINGS what’s hot and what’s not? No. 40, October 7, 2009
Razor-sharp Slav stuff
We know, we are an opening magazine, but the way Carlsen handled his pieces in a
surrealistic final stage of the game against Wang Yue, crosses all boundaries. Please try to
work out all the ¤ forks and checkmates in the end for yourself. It started with a Slav...
27...c5 28.¤f3 wins the pawn on h4.
game of the week 28.¦xb4+ ¢a8 29.¤xg3 ¦d8 30.e3 ¤h4
31.¢f1! £a5?
Carlsen, M (2772) - Wang Yue (2736) fxg3 21.hxg3 h5 22.¦ab1 ¥a7 23.e3 (23.¥xc6 Correct is 31...£d5! 32.£e4 (32.e4 £e5
Pearl Spring (Nanjing), 06.10.2009 transposes to the game.) 23...h4?! (23...¤e7) 33.¤ge2 £h2) 32...£xe4 33.¤xe4 ¥xd4
D17, Slav, 6.¤e5 ¤bd7 7.¤xc4 £c7 24.¤bd4 ¥xd4 25.¤xd4 c5? 26.¦xb4! cxb4 34.¦xd4 ¦xd4 35.exd4 ¤f5 36.d5 ¦e7 with good
27.¤c6+ Nguyen-Predojevic, Moscow 2008. drawing chances.
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.¤f3 ¤f6 4.¤c3 dxc4 5.a4 XIIIIIIIIY 32.¦cb1?
¥f5 6.¤e5 ¤bd7 7.¤xc4 £c7 9-mk-tr-+-tr0 White could have decided the game with
7...¤b6 is another recipe from the Chinese 9+p+n+p+-0 32.¦xc6! ¦xd4 33.¦xd4 ¦xc6 34.¦xh4.
kitchen. 9-+p+-+n+0 32...¤f3 33.¤b3 £d5 34.£xd5 cxd5 35.¦d1
8.g3 e5 9.dxe5 ¤xe5 10.¥f4 ¤fd7 11.¥g2 g5 ¦c2 36.¦f4 ¤e5 37.¤d4 ¦c4 38.¤de2 ¦xf4
9+-vl-wqN+p0
12.¤e3 gxf4 13.¤xf5 0–0–0 14.£c2 ¤g6 39.¤xf4 d4 40.¤ge2 ¤c6 41.e4 ¦b8 42.¤d5
In CVO 22 we examined the major alternative
9Pzp-+-zp-+0 ¦b2 43.¤ef4 ¢b7 44.¤d3 ¦b3 45.¢e2 ¦a3
14...¤c5. Since then, Black proved he is doing
9+N+-+-zP-0 46.f4 ¦xa4 47.¦b1+ ¢c8 48.¦c1 ¢b7 49.e5
fine there: 15.0–0 fxg3 16.hxg3 a5 17.¦fd1 h5 9-+Q+PzPLzP0 White has returned the pawn, but therefore
18.¦xd8+ £xd8 19.¦d1 £f6 20.¥h3 ¢b8 21.£d2 9tR-tR-+-mK-0 gained excellent coordination of his pieces.
h4 (21...¤g6!? 22.£e3 h4 23.£e8+ ¢a7 24.¦d8 xiiiiiiiiy 49...¦a3 50.¦h1 ¦a5 51.¤f6 ¥b8 52.¦b1+
¥e7 25.¦a8+ ¢b6 26.¤d5+ cxd5 27.£b5+ ¢c7 21.¦ab1? ¢c8 53.¦c1 ¢b7 54.¤e4 ¦a3 55.¦h1 ¥xe5!
28.£xa5+ ¢c6 29.£b5+ ¢c7 30.£a5+ ¢c6 21.¤xc5? ¤xc5 22.£xc5? is met by 22...¦d1+; Correctly giving the piece to get closer to the
½–½ Gupta-Negi, Kolkata 2009.) 22.g4 ¥e7 however 21.a5!? deserves further investigation, draw.
(Improving over the aforementioned game, since in the game Black is more than fine. 56.fxe5 ¤xe5 57.¤d6+!
which ended quickly after 22...¦g8 23.¢h1 ¤e6 21...¥a7 Here a very surrealistic story starts: materially
24.¤e4 £g6 25.£xa5 ¤xg4 26.f3 ¤h6 27.£e5+ 21...fxg3 22.hxg3 h4 23.¤xc5 ¤xc5 24.¦xb4±. speaking White doesn’t have enough winning
¢a7 28.¤f6 1–0 Wang Hao-Ni Hua, Xinghua 22.¥xc6 potential left. All there is left is a direct attack on
Jiangsu 2009.) 23.£e3 ¦e8 24.¢h1 ¤g6 25.f4 There is no way back, White must go for it. the black ¢.
£e6 with equal chances in Mikhalevski-Ni Hua, 22...fxg3 23.hxg3 ¦c8? 57...¢a6
Edmonton 2009. Clearly bad is 23...bxc6? 24.¤bd4! ¦c8 All other moves run into a nasty ¤ fork.
15.0–0 ¢b8 (24...¥xd4 25.¦xb4+ ¥b6 26.£xc6 £xf5 58.¤b4+ ¢b6 59.¦c1!
This prophylactic move must be played before 27.¦xb6+ ¤xb6 28.£xb6+ ¢a8 would be a draw With a perfect sense of harmony, White finds his
the h-pawn starts running. 15...fxg3?! 16.hxg3 without the exchange on g3, but here ¢h2 is last winning chance.
h5 17.¦fc1 ¢b8 (17...a5? 18.¤b5) 18.b4 h4 possible and therefore 29.¦c7 wins.) 25.¤xc6+ 59...¦e3+?
19.¤b5! This move refutes the whole line. ¢a8 26.¤xe5 ¦xc2 27.¦xc2 ¤gxe5 28.¦xb4±; The losing move. After putting up a heroic
19...£c8 (19...£b6 20.a5! £xb5 21.¤d4 but White faces problems after 23...¤e7! defence, Wang Yue finally cracks. Correct is
£a6 22.b5) 20.£b3 h3 21.£e3 c5 22.¥e4 24.¤bd4 (24.¤xe7? £xg3+) 24...¥xd4 25.¦xb4 59...¦a5.
¤f6 23.bxc5 ¤g4 24.c6+- Kasimdzhanov- ¤xc6 26.£xc6 ¥b6!. 60.¢d1 ¦b3?!
Predojevic, Germany 2007. 24.£d3 bxc6 60...¢a5! 61.¤d5 ¦e1+! 62.¢xe1 ¤d3+ 63.¢d2
16.¦fc1 a5 17.b4! 24...¤c5!? 25.¤xc5 ¥xc5 26.¥xb7 (26.¥g2 h4 ¤xc1 64.¢xc1 f5 65.¤f4! is a winning version of
Lines must be opened at all costs. leads to very double-edged play.) 26...¢xb7 a famous ending (after d4 is lost).
17...axb4 27.£b5+ leads to a perpetual. 61.¤d5+ ¢a7 62.¦a1+ ¢b8 63.¢c2!
17...¥xb4 18.¤d5 £e5 19.¤xb4 axb4 20.¦ab1 25.£xd7 ¦c7 The ¦ has no squares left on the b-file!
(20.a5? ¤c5!) 20...£a5 21.¤d6 ¤de5 22.¤c4 25...¦cd8 fails to 26.£xc6 ¥xf2+ (26...£xf5? 63...¦h3 64.¦b1+ ¢a7 65.¦b7+ ¢a6 66.¦b6+
¤xc4 23.£xc4² Caruana-Ni Hua, Dagomys 27.¦c5) 27.¢xf2 £xf5+ 28.¢g1 £e5 29.£f3 ¢a5 67.¦b5+ ¢a4 68.¤b6+ ¢a3 69.¦xe5
2009. h4 30.¦c5 £xg3+ 31.£xg3+ hxg3 32.¤a5±. With an extra pair of rooks on the board, two
18.¤b5 £e5 19.¤bd4 26.£d3 h4 27.¤bd4 hxg3 knights are easily winning. 1–0
19.¥xc6?! ¤c5 20.¥g2 b3 is fine for Black.
19...¥c5 20.¤b3 h5!?N
Black wisely keeps the pawns on the board and
so White is unable to stablize a ¤ on d4. 20...
carlsen - wang yue
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ChessVibes OPENINGS what’s hot and what’s not? No. 40, October 7, 2009
this week’s harvest
Scotch, 4...¤f6 1.e4 e5 2.¤f3 ¤c6 3.d4 exd4 4.¤xd4 ¤f6 5.¤xc6 bxc6 6.e5 £e7
XIIIIIIIIY 7.£e2 ¤d5 8.c4 ¥a6 9.¤d2 0–0–0 10.b3 g5 11.¥b2 ¥g7 12.0–0–0 ¤b6
9-+ktr-+-tr0 Carlsen’s impressive win against Leko might have bolstered Radjabov in his choice to stick to the Scotch with the
9zp-zppwqpvlp0 White pieces. Unlike Carlsen after 4...¥c5, the Azeri prefers to play for a marginal edge in the ending after 5.¤xc6
9lsnp+-+-+0 £f6 6.£f3 as he did against Jakovenko in the 3rd round. A round later though, he got to deal with a sharper variation
arising from 4...¤f6 which suits Topalov’s style more. Radjabov opted for a relatively unknown sideline (9.¤d2),
9+-+-zP-zp-0
completing his development without the common move g3. The Bulgarian’s reply wasn’t so convincing and he had
9-+P+-+-+0 to stand the entire game with his back against the wall. The aggressive 10...g5 only seems to be weakening the f5
9+P+-+-+-0 square (see for example the variation after 11...¤b4). White’s direct approach (13.h4! and 14.f4!) promises a stable
9PvL-sNQzPPzP0 space advantage, since the desirable pawn break with either the d- or the f-pawn is out of the question. When
9+-mKR+L+R0 Topalov couldn’t resist the temptation any longer, he erred with 19...d5? and luckily survived a worse ending. 10...f6
xiiiiiiiiy would be our recommendation for Black.
1.e4 c5 2.¤f3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.¤xd4 ¤f6 5.¤c3 g6 6.¥e3 ¥g7 7.f3 ¤c6 Dragon, 11...¤xd4
8.£d2 0–0 9.¥c4 ¥d7 10.0–0–0 ¦c8 11.¥b3 ¤xd4 12.¥xd4 b5 13.h4 e6 XIIIIIIIIY
Since Shirov easily drew Karjakin with his old love the Dragon, using the tricky 11...¤xd4!? (see CVO 36), many 9-+rwq-trk+0
questions remained. After this week’s Jakovenko-Radjabov, we are inclined to say that instead of answers, we are 9zp-+l+pvlp0
left with even more questions. Is 13.¤d5 no longer the critical move? We think it still is. Whereas 13...e6!? is indeed 9-+-zppsnp+0
a very fascinating novelty, why does Black refrain from 13...a5 14.h5 a4 15.¥xf6 exf6 16.¥d5? Tournament practice
9+p+-+-+-0
so far isn’t of great help, so we turned on our engines. 16...a3 17.¥b3!N axb2 18.¢b1 seems to only help White. 16...
f5 17.hxg6 hxg6 18.g4 fxg4 19.fxg4!N ¥xg4 20.¦dg1 also looks good for White. But 16...b4! 17.¤e2 f5 18.hxg6 hxg6
9-+-vLP+-zP0
19.¤d4 a3!N 20.exf5 ¦c5! 21.¥b3 ¥xf5 seems to give Black enough counterplay. In the game Jakovenko was on
9+LsN-+P+-0
his guard and beat Radjabov in the ending. Finally, in Motylev-Pavlovic White chose the move order 10.h4, which 9PzPPwQ-+P+0
surely not only has advantages. 9+-mKR+-+R0
xiiiiiiiiy
Nimzo-Indian, 5.e4 1.d4 e6 2.c4 ¤f6 3.¤c3 ¥b4 4.£c2 0–0 5.e4 d5 6.e5 ¤e4 7.¥d3 c5 8.¤f3 cxd4 9.¤xd4 ¤d7
XIIIIIIIIY 10.¥f4 £h4 11.g3 £h3 12.0–0–0 ¤xc3 13.bxc3 ¥a3+ 14.¢b1 ¤b6 15.¥f1 £h5 16.¥e2 £h3 17.¤f3
9r+l+-trk+0 Going through Bronstein’s masterpiece about the Candidates tournament of Zurich 1953 one may get the impression
9zpp+-+pzpp0 the Nimzo-Indian is rather a solid positional battlefield. More than half a century later, early £ sorties, spoiled pawn
9-sn-+p+-+0 structures, opposite castled ¢s and other dynamic features play an equivalent role to positional laws. The variation
with 5.e4 is a good example of how rapidly the Nimzo is developing even today. In recent games of GMs Fridman and
9+-+pzP-+-0
Kasimdzhanov Black was posed several critical questions. The latter quickly chickened out in his game with Bacrot,
9-+P+-vL-+0 where the Frenchman introduced 10...£h4 inviting his opponent for a sharp fight. In Paks, Meier deviated with the
9vl-zP-+NzPq0 ‘fingerfehler’ 16...£h3?, expecting another repetition. Ganguly convincingly pointed out the disadvantage by directing
9P+Q+LzP-zP0 his ¤ to the ¢-side. Having brought the £ on the rear, Black’s chances were minimalized and the Indian decided
9+K+R+-+R0 Meier’s fate. Black should return to 16...£g6, accepting that White can take the draw, or go for 10...¤dc5. Moreover,
xiiiiiiiiy 5...d6 remains a more flexible option.
1.d4 ¤f6 2.c4 g6 3.g3 ¥g7 4.¥g2 d5 5.cxd5 ¤xd5 6.e4 ¤b6 7.¤e2 c5 8.d5 e6 9.0–0 Grünfeld, Fianchetto
0–0 10.¤bc3 ¤a6 11.¤f4 e5 12.¤d3 c4 13.¤e1 ¥d7 14.£e2 ¤c5 15.¥e3 ¦c8 16.¤f3 £e8 XIIIIIIIIY
It doesn’t come as a surprise that people start to work out variations upheld by Kasparov in his match in Valencia. 9-+r+qtrk+0
Logically, because of his cooperation with The Boss, Carlsen has some advantage over his opponents. However, in 9zpp+l+pvlp0
his black game with Leko, right out of the opening he couldn’t really formulate a plan and just narrowly escaped with 9-sn-+-+p+0
a draw after being an exchange down for most of the game. Two rounds later, Topalov showed a more dynamic way
9+-snPzp-+-0
to deal with the passed d-pawn. Instead of transfering a ¤ to the blockade square d6, the Bulgarian attacked the
base on e4, by pushing forward his c- and f-pawns. In a style similar to Black’s play in the Sveshnikov, at the cost of
9-+p+P+-+0
some small material Topalov efficiently exploited the time White spent on hopping around with his ¤. The ¦ proved
9+-sN-vLNzP-0
to be no game for Black’s ¥s as they assisted in queening the e-pawn. It’s not surprising that a player of Karpov’s 9PzP-+QzPLzP0
calibre abandoned the line 10.¤bc3 ¤a6! and switched to 10.¤ec3, aiming to move the other ¤ to c4. 9tR-+-+RmK-0
xiiiiiiiiy
3 of 4
ChessVibes OPENINGS what’s hot and what’s not? No. 40, October 7, 2009
opening expert
Who: Gabriel Sargissian
Born: February 3, 1983
Nationality: Armenia
Rating: 2678
Expertise: 1.d4, Black: Marshall and Semi-Slav
Why: Sargissian is most of all known as the star second of Aronian (and his
tennis partner!), but he can also be seen as the heart of the Armenian
national team. No other player in the world reaches such great hights
when he has the honour to play for his country. The Armenians are very
dedicated and disciplined in team competitions. They analyse together
and share ideas, always in cheerful atmosphere, which makes them
a very powerful theoretical machine. At the European Club Cup the
complete national team plays for Mika Yerevan and considering their gold
medals at the last two Olympiads, that makes them clear favourites.
Caruana missed a nasty tactic, after being put under (theoretical) pressure
- an elegant double rook sacrifice leading to mate:
Key game: Sargissian - Caruana, European Club Cup (Ohrid), 05.10.2009
1.d4 ¤f6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 b5 4.cxb5 a6 5.bxa6 g6 12...£a5 17...£b6
6.¤c3 ¥xa6 7.¤f3 d6 8.e4!? Alternatives include 12...¦a6 13.¦e1 £a8 and Maybe 17...£d8 is safer.
8.g3 has been more common lately. 12...£b6. 18.a4 ¢f8 19.¦a3 ¤e8 20.¦e3 ¥h6??
8...¥xf1 9.¢xf1 ¤bd7 10.g3 ¥g7 11.¢g2 0–0 13.¦e1 ¦fb8 14.e5 dxe5 15.¤xe5 ¤xe5 After 20...¤d6 White also seems to have the
12.h3 16.¦xe5 ¦b7 17.£e2 more pleasant position.
XIIIIIIIIY XIIIIIIIIY XIIIIIIIIY
9r+-wq-trk+0 9r+-+-+k+0 9r+-+nmk-+0
9+-+nzppvlp0 9+r+-zppvlp0 9+r+-zpp+p0
9-+-zp-snp+0 9-+-+-snp+0 9-wq-+-+pvl0
9+-zpP+-+-0 9wq-zpPtR-+-0 9+-zpP+-+-0
9-+-+P+-+0 9-+-+-+-+0 9P+-+-+-+0
9+-sN-+NzPP0 9+-sN-+-zPP0 9tR-sN-tR-zPP0
9PzP-+-zPK+0 9PzP-+QzPK+0 9-zP-+QzPK+0
9tR-vLQ+-+R0 9tR-vL-+-+-0 9+-vL-+-+-0
xiiiiiiiiy xiiiiiiiiy xiiiiiiiiy
21.¦e6! fxe6 22.¥xh6+ ¢g8 23.¦b3!
23.... £xb3 24.£xe6+ ¢h8 25.£f7 followed by
mate. 1–0
[Link]/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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