openings 209 | January 2n 2012

whats hot and whats not?

XIIIIIIIIY
Main theoretical 9rsnlwq-trk+0
9zppzpnvlpzpp0

developments of 2012
9-+-+p+-+0
9+-+pzP-+-0
9-+PzP-+-+0
9zP-+-+N+-0
9-zP-sN-zPPzP0
By IM Merijn van Delft & IM Robert Ris
9tR-vLQmKL+R0
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Just as we've done for the past two years (see CVO 104 Frequency
and 156), we're going to give an overview of the main
theoretical developments of the past year. This week
Hoogeveen won the World Cities Team Championship and
Korobov the AICF-AAI Cup.

what'shot?
Score
The rise of 6.d3 in the Ruy Lopez is remarkable and of course the
Berlin remains a tough nut to crack. As we predicted last year, 6.e3
has replaced 6.g5 again as the main move against the Najdorf. Even
hotter at the moment is 6.h3 (see below). Surprisingly, the Dragon seems
to be in good theoretical shape for Black. The World Championship
match betweem Anand and Gelfand was somewhat boring from an
entertainment point of view, but it was certainly of theoretical interest (both
the opening stages and the strategic vs debate). The Sveshnikov is
back and therefore interest has also been growing in the b5 Sicilian.
The French Winawer has increased in popularity.

The Grnfeld remains very popular. At the World Championship match

it was Gelfand's consistent weapon, which is not surprising since it's an
Israeli speciality. In tournament play it's just as popular. The Semi-Slav
and 1.d4 f6 2.c4 e6 (Anand's choices for the match) remain Black's
other main choices against 1.d4.

A few words on the last week. The Game of the Week pretty much
decided the outcome of the AICF-AAI Cup. Below we take a look at the
Pirc, the Catalan and Tiviakov's approach in the opening. Source: Megabase + TWIC, 2500+ only

The Benoni is currently coming under heavy pressure because of the setup with f4, h3 and e3. That highlights the weakness of the
d6-pawn and neutralises Black's counterplay along the half-open e-file. A key game is Aronian-Gashimov, Wijk aan Zee 2012 (see
CVO 160). The QGD has also lost some of its popularity again, but we all know it'll be around forever.
whatsnot?
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 openings whats hot and whats not? 209 | January 2n 2012

Another drama between Wojtaszek & Korobov

Just as in their encounter last week Wojtaszek had a very promising position against
Korobov after theoretically relevant play in the opening, but the latter made the most of his
chances and went on to win the tournament.
gameoftheweek Wojtaszek - Korobov

Wojtaszek,R (2734) - Korobov,A (2702) view of 13.h5!. XIIIIIIIIY

AICF-AAI Cup (New Delhi), 30.12.2012 13.b3 9-+r+rvl-mk0
E11, Bogo-Indian After 13.exf6 xf6 White can't take advantage 9zpp+-+-zp-0
of the weakened b1h7 diagonal. 9q+-+l+-zP0
1.d4 f6 2.c4 e6 3.f3 b4+ 4.bd2 00 13...c6 14.f4 b6 9+-+p+p+-0
5.a3 e7 6.e4 d5 7.e5 fd7 8.d3 Perhaps it would have been better not to 9-+nsN-vL-+0
The main continuation is 8.b4 which we determine a square for the yet and instead 9zP-+-+-+R0
covered in CVO 112. The text in conjunction play 14...b6!? 9LzPQ+-zP-+0
with White's next move has come into fashion 15.a2 e8 16.000 a6
9+K+R+-+-0
due to the efforts of the Chinese youngster After a move like 16...f8 White retains a firm
Ding Liren. grip on the centre with 17.bxd4.
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8...c5 9.h4 h6 17.b1 27.xc4?
The main alternative is 9...g6 10.h5 cxd4 Korobov was intending to answer 17.bxd4? Wojtaszek chooses the wrong move order.
11.c2 c5! (11...e8?! was played in Ding with 17...b4! eliminating White's light- He should have played 27.f3! and now
Liren-Tomashevsky - CVO 148.) 12.f1 d3 squared . 27...d4 (27...xa3+ 28.bxa3 xc2 runs into
(In the aforementioned issue we only covered 17...b6 18.bxd4 xd4 29.e5+ g8 (29...h7 30.g5+) 30.h7+
12...c6. The following game deserves further In case of 18...c4 19.xf5 xf5 20.xf5 b5 with a winning attack.) 28.xc4 xc4 29.d2
investigation.) 13.xd3 xd3+ 14.xd3 21.c1! White wins, e.g. 21...xa3+ 22.a1 f6 30.xd4 xd4 31.xd4 b5 32.e5+ and
dxc4 15.e3 g5 16.e4 h6 17.fxg5 hxg5 c4 23.e6+ h8 24.xd5 c5 25.g4 Black is forced to give up the exchange.
18.g3 h8 19.xg5 xg5 20.xg5 c6 b6 26.g5 xd5 27.f5 and mate can't be 27...xc4 28.e5+ h7 29.d2
21.d1 c7 22.f4 g8 23.e3 b5 24.d6 b7 prevented. The problem is that 29.f3 can now be
25.f5? (25. 00!?) 25...e7 (25...d4! 26.00 19.xd4 c4 20.h3! answered with 29...e7! transposing to the
e2+ 27.h2 f6! and Black wins.) 26.e4 Attack and defence at the same time. Inferior game.
f8 27.fxe6 xe5 28.e7 d3+ 29.f1 10 is 20.xf5? xf5 21.xf5 f8 22.g4 xb2! 29...e7 30.f3?
Cheparinov-Mchedlishvili, Leon 2012. with complicated play. Still, after 30.f4! White's position has to be
10.b1 cxd4 20...h8 21.g3 preferred.
10...e8 11.dxc5! (Less convincing is 11.c2 21.c3! gives White a clear advantage as 30...f4 31.hh1 g4 32.xd5 e6 33.d2
f8 12.dxc5 a5 13.b3 bd7 14.f4 a4 Black lacks counterplay. g4 34.d5 f5+ 35.a1 e6 36.d3?
15.bd4 xc5 with unclear play in Avrukh- 21...xh4 22.h3 e7 23.e6 f8 24.g4? A terrible blunder, which abruptly ends the
Fedorchuk, Sibenik 2012.) 11...xc5 (11... 24.xf5 can be met by 24...xe6 when Black's game. White should have played 36.d2 even
a5!?) 12.c2 f8 13.cxd5 xd5 14.e4 still alive. Objectively White's best continuation though after 36...b6! Black retains the better
e7 15.xh6! gxh6 16.h3 and White is 24.xc4! dxc4 (24...xc4? 25.xf5 and prospects.
had a crushing attack and went on to win Black collapses.) 25.e5! xe6 26.xh6+ g8 XIIIIIIIIY
convincingly after 16...a5+ 17.b4 xb4+ 27.h3 retaining a powerful initiative for the . 9-+-+r+-+0
18.axb4 xb4+ 19.f1 bd7 20.g3+ h8 24...xe6 25.g5 ac8 26.gxh6 9zpp+-vl-+k0
21.c1 h7 22.xh6 g8 23.xh7+ xh7 9q+-+l+pzP0
24.f6+ h6 25.xg8+ h5 26.g5# 10 (diagram)
9+-+-vL-+-0
Kacheishvili-Shahade, Saint Louis 2011.
11.cxd5 exd5 12.c2 26...g6?
9-+r+-zp-+0
A logical improvement upon 12.b3 since This natural move is a serious mistake. Also
9zP-+Q+N+-0
after 12...c6 13.d3 f5 14.f4 c7 15.e2 bad is 26...xa3+ 27.xa3! xa3 28.hxg7+ 9-zP-+-zP-+0
b6 16.a2 e8 play was rather unclear in xg7 29.d2 with a crushing attack for White. 9mK-+R+-+R0
Shulman-Ludwig, Philadelphia 2012. Surprisingly the correct move is 26...g5! when xiiiiiiiiy
12...f5 after 27.xg5 e3 28.d2 xd1 29.xd1 the 36...c1+! and White resigned, since he'll lose
12...g6? can no longer be recommended in position remains rather a mess. material after 37.xc1 xd3 01

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 openings whats hot and whats not? 209 | January 2n 2012

thisweeksharvest
Sicilian Najdorf, 6.h3 1.e4 c5 2.f3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.xd4 f6 5.c3 a6 6.h3 c6 7.g4 xd4 8.xd4 e5 9.d3 e6
XIIIIIIIIY 10.g5 d7 11.f4 c8 12.f5 c4 13.f3 b6 14.xc4 xc4 15.b3 b6 16.d2 d5 17.exd5 b4
9-+rwqk+-tr0 In absolute numbers the Najdorf is the main line of chess and one of the most important theoretical developments
9+p+-+pzpp0 of 2012 was the rise of 6.h3. In the past week alone we noticed a handful of relevant encounters. In Howell-
9psn-+-+-+0 Banikas White got a nice edge against the 6...g6 variation by simply castling queenside (two days before in
9+-+PzpPzP-0 Kryvoruchko-Banikas White had castled kingside). In Van Kampen-Andriasian White seemed to have an edge
9-vl-+-+-+0 against the 6...e5 7.de2 h5 variation, following the same approach as in Firman-Shirov. The diagram position
stems from Korobov-Negi and here 18.f6! g6 19.000 c7 20.d6! would have been very strong. This shows that
9+PsN-+Q+P0
the 6...c6 variation doesn't seem to solve Black's problems either. Finally, in Bok-Das 6...e6 7.g4 e7 8.g5
9P+PvL-+-+0 fd7 9.h4 b5 10.a3 b7 11.e3 c6!? was played and this may offer Black reasonable counterplay. Of course
9tR-+-mK-+R0 in 2013 we'll discover more about this trendy line.
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1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.d2 c5 4.exd5 xd5 5.dxc5 f6 6.gf3 xc5 7.d3 e7 8.00 00 9.e2 bd7 10.c4 b6 11.e4 c7 12.xf6+ French, Tarrasch
xf6 13.e5 b7 14.b3 d7 15.xd7 xd7 16.b2 fd8 17.ad1 c6 18.g4 f8 19.fe1 d7 20.e4 xd1 21.xd1 c8 XIIIIIIIIY
The pawn structure in the diagram position, with White's central pawns exchanged for Black's c- and d-pawns, 9r+q+-vlk+0
is very typical and has been the subject of debate for a century already. As Kasparov explains in My Great 9zpl+-+pzpp0
Predecessors, Capablanca demonstrated the power of the queenside pawn majority, whereas Alekhine 9-zp-+p+-+0
demonstrated the value of the extra central pawn. Tiviakov belongs to the Capablanca school of chess and
9+-+-+-+-0
likes to play with the smallest of edges, slowly outplaying his opponent. In the diagram position, from a French
Tarrasch against Romanov, all the pieces were gradually exchanged and White won the dark-squared bishop
9-+P+L+-+0
ending thanks to his outside passed a-pawn. The alternative approach in this pawn structure would be to castle
9+P+-+-+-0
queenside with White and start an attack on the kingside. Another nice example of the Tiviakov approach in the 9PvL-+-zPPzP0
opening was seen in Tiviakov-Mamedov. White only had a symbolic edge from a Sicilian Alapin, but started 9+-+QtR-mK-0
working with that and won the endgame after 89 moves. xiiiiiiiiy

1.d4 d6 2.e4 f6 3.c3 g6 4.f4 g7 5.f3 00 6.e5 fd7 7.c4 c5 8.e6 b6

Pirc, Austrian Attack 9.exf7+ h8 10.h4 xc4 11.h5 f5 12.hxg6 xg6 13.f5 xf5 14.g5 d7 15.h5 h6
XIIIIIIIIY The Austrian Attack (4.f4) in the Pirc has always been favored by the most gifted tacticians. In CVO 140 none
9rsn-+-tr-mk0 other than top GM Sutovsky used the variation with 6.e5 in a must-win situation against Ivanchuk, but the
9zpp+qzpPvl-0 latter defended accurately against White's aggressive attempts. This week Serbian GM Ivanisevic deviated from
9-+-zp-+-zp0 that game with 7.c4!?, probably inspired by a wonderful game from Velimirovic played in 1971. Back then the
9+-zp-+lsNQ0 legendary Yugoslav GM introduced the amazing piece sacrifice 10.h4! leaving the on c4 en prise. With the aid
9-+nzP-+-+0 of the strongest engines we can confirm that White is winning after this spectacular idea. In the PGN file some
illustrative lines have been added to make black players aware of White's attacking potential. In the diagram
9+-sN-+-+-0
position Ivanisevic committed a serious mistake, allowing his opponent to stay in the game. Can you find the
9PzPP+-+P+0 correct idea for White? Players with the black pieces are therefore advised not to enter these hypersharp lines
9tR-vL-mK-+R0 and instead to pay to attention to 7...b6!? which seems to be Black's best move.
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1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.f3 f6 4.g3 dxc4 5.g2 a6 6.00 c6 7.e3 b8 8.fd2 e5 9.xc6+
bxc6 10.dxe5 g4 11.xc4 e6 12.bd2 b4 13.b3 h5 14.b2 h4 15.f3 hxg3 16.hxg3 Catalan, 5...a6
The variation with 5...a6 against the Catalan has been considered one of the most critical tests of the opening. XIIIIIIIIY
Black attempts to hold on to his extra , temporarily neglecting the development of his pieces and solving his 9-tr-wqk+-tr0
opening problems in a very concrete manner. In the variation 6.00 c6 7.e3 b8 White basically has two 9+-zp-+pzp-0
ways of attacking the on c4, either with 8.e2 or 8.fd2. In Iljushin-Smeets White opted for the latter option, 9p+p+l+-+0
allowing Black to open the centre with 8...e5. In the PGN file extensive analysis has been given of the current 9+-+-zP-+-0
state of this line and the general conclusion is that Black has sufficient dynamic compensation for his structural 9-vlN+-+n+0
weaknesses on the queenside (caused by 9.xc6). The current game certainly confirms that verdict, since after
9+P+-zPNzP-0
Black's novelty 12...b4 the Russian GM didn't find an appropriate response to the immediate attack by Black's
h-pawn. In the diagram position Smeets decided to exchange s on d1, missing a big chance to profit from the
9PvL-+-zP-+0
weakened kingside. Can you improve upon the Dutchman's play?
9tR-+Q+RmK-0
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 openings whats hot and whats not? 209 | January 2n 2012

itsyourmove
XIIIIIIIIY XIIIIIIIIY
O 9-+r+-trk+0 O9r+lwq-trk+0
9+p+-zppvl-0 9zpp+-snpzpp0
9p+nzp-+nzp0 9-+-zp-sn-+0
9wq-+-+-zp-0 9+-zpPzp-+-0
9-+-+P+-+0 9-+P+P+-+0
9+PsN-+P+P0 9+-zPL+-+-0
9PzP-wQ-vLP+0 9P+-sN-zPPzP0
9+K+R+L+R0 9tR-vLQmK-+R0
xiiiiiiiiy xiiiiiiiiy

lastweekssolutions
XIIIIIIIIY
Negi-Sasikiran, AICF-AAI Cup (New Delhi) 2012 9r+-+r+k+0
Black has a nice blockade on c5 and it therefore seems as though White is unable to break through on the 9+lwq-+pvlp0
queenside. However, by exchanging his ''good'' he succeeds in doing so. 25.xc5! xc5 26.a5 c7 9p+-zp-snp+0
27.c5! dxc5 28.a4 f8 28...ec8 29.d6 b6 30.d7 d8 31.axc5 also clearly favors White. 29.xe8 xe8 9+-snPzp-+-0
30.a2 c8 31.a5 b8 32.d2 h5 33.gf1 h4 34.e3 and Black didn't have sufficient compensation for the
9-+P+P+-+0
exchange. Negi converted his material advantage convincingly. 34...h5 35.b1 d6 36.dc4 e7 37.b8
f4 38.h2 d3 39.d6 e6 40.c7 f4 41.d2 xg2 42.xg2 xh3+ 43.g1 g4 44.xe8 f3 45.xf8+
9+-+-vLNsNP0
xf8 46.e7+ g8 47.e8+ h7 48.xf7+ h6 49.f5+ gxf5 50.f6+ 10
9-+LwQ-zPP+0
9tR-tR-+-mK-0
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9rsnlwqr+k+0 Aronian-Jobava, Mind Games Blindfold (Beijing) 2012
9zpp+p+p+p0 For a moment it looks as though Black has an annoying initiative against White's stuck in the centre, but in this
9-+-+-+pvl0 blindfold game Aronian didn't fail to see 11.000! and suddenly the tables are turned. 11...xe3 12.fxe3 g3
9+-zpP+-+n0 13.g1 d6 14.d3 h5 15.e4! White has finished his development and now starts to push. 15...f6 15...d7
fails to 16.f4! with a double attack against g3 and d6. 16.b5 xe4 This loses a piece. 16...a6 17.g5! also
9-+P+-+-+0
leaves d6 very weak. 17.e3! and Aronian had no problems converting: 17...a6 18.xe4 e7 19.d2 d7
9+-sN-vLN+P0 19...f5 20.g3! is no solution. 20.g4 h4 21.de1 xb5 22.cxb5 b4 23.a3 xd5 24.f2 g5 25.gf1 e7
9PzP-wQ-zPP+0 26.xd5 xe1+ 27.xe1 xd5 28.e4 a2 29.c2 d5 30.f3 d4 31.b3 10
9tR-+-mKL+R0
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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! Why not subscribe
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