openings 161 | February 1 n 2012

what’s hot and what’s not?

XIIIIIIIIY
Aronian wins 9r+lwq-trk+0
9zppzpnvlpzpp0

in Wijk aan Zee

9-+-+psn-+0
9+-+p+-+-0
9-+PzP-vL-+0
9+-sN-zPN+-0
9PzP-+-zPPzP0
By IM Merijn van Delft & IM Robert Ris
9tR-+QmKL+R0
xiiiiiiiiy
Frequency
In this issue we cover the third part of the Tata Steel Chess
Tournament - Rounds 9 to 13. Aronian won impressively
with 9 out of 13, a point ahead of the field, pushing his live
rating up to 2824. Harikrishna won the B tournament.

what'shot?
Score
With White Aronian beat Caruana convincingly in a symmetrical English
(see below), but was surprisingly outplayed by Navara in the Anti-
Grünfeld. With Black Aronian doesn't go for any surprise effect, but
simply puts a lot of trust in his classical 1.e4 e5 and 1.d4 d5 repertoire,
judging from the six QGDs he's had in a row. The loss against Carlsen
was followed by three ultra-solid draws against Van Wely, Ivanchuk and
Topalov. This week he added two entertaining wins: our Game of the
Week against Giri and the decisive game against Gelfand.

Below we examine how White successfully dealt with the Petroff Defence
in Wijk aan Zee, based on the 5.¤c3 variation. Nakamura again played
the Dragon, as he'd done before in the tournament, and Kamsky's
positional 9.0-0-0 didn't really trouble Black. With White Nakamura beat
Van Wely in an interesting Sveshnikov game.

Karjakin outplayed Carlsen from the black side of a Queen's Indian.

Harika's blunder with 17...¦xc4?? against L'Ami was already mentioned
in our Grünfeld analysis in CVO 151. Nakamura-Topalov was very
creative with the black ¢ on d8 in the English Opening. Source: Megabase + TWIC, 2500+ only

Giri lost five games in a row, the first setback of his career, but one that he will surely overcome. Allowing early exchange sacrifices
on c3 against Gashimov (see p.4) and on f3 against Aronian (see p.2) reveals some kind of materialism. Perhaps it's also related
to result-oriented play (quick draws with White against Radjabov and Nakamura and giving back the
exchange against Carlsen) instead of performance-oriented play (as they say in sports psychology)? what’snot?
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 openings what’s hot and what’s not?
Aronian's exchange sacrifice
As Aronian is the person who introduced 8.0–0 into tournament practice he’s well-acquainted
with the ideas for both White and Black. The exchange sacrifice on f3 has the potential to
become a real classic. It’s instructive to see how ¥c6 becomes a real force.
gameoftheweek Giri - Aronian
Giri,A (2714) - Aronian,L (2805)
Tata Steel (Wijk aan Zee), 25.01.2012
D37, Queen's Gambit Declined, 5.¥f4
1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.¤c3 ¥e7 4.¤f3 ¤f6 5.¥f4
0–0 6.e3
Last week Topalov tried 6.a3 against Aronian,
but the Armenian seemed well-prepared and
achieved a comfortable draw (CVO 160).
6...¤bd7 7.¥e2
Aronian's line. Practice has shown that after
both 7.a3 and 7.c5 Black has reasonable
chances.
7...dxc4 8.0–0 ¤b6!?
This logical novelty breathes new life into the
position.
a) The World Champion failed to equalize after
8...¤d5?! 9.¥xc4 ¤xf4 10.exf4 c5 11.dxc5
£c7 12.g3 £xc5 13.£e2 ¤b6 14.¥d3 £h5
15.£e3 ¥f6 16.¤g5 ¥xc3 17.bxc3 h6 18.¥e2
£g6 19.¤f3 £f6 20.¤e5 ¥d7 21.c4 and White
had a pleasant advantage in Aronian-Anand,
Moscow 2011.
b) Black's main option here is 8...c5 which
was tested at the highest level in Moscow
and London last year. In CVO 152 we covered
9.dxc5 ¤xc5 10.¥xc4 a6 (10...£xd1 11.¦fxd1
b6 12.¤d4 ¥b7 13.¦ac1 (13.f3 ¦fc8 14.¦ac1 a6
15.a3 ¤h5 16.¥e5 ¤f6 17.¥g3 ¢f8 18.e4 ¢e8
19.¥f1 g6 20.¥f2 e5 21.¤c2 ¤b3 22.¦b1 b5
with approximate equality in Anand-Kramnik,
London 2011.) 13...a6 14.b4 ¤ce4 15.¤xe4
¥xe4 16.a3 ¦fc8 17.f3 ¥b7 18.e4 a5 19.¤xe6
axb4 20.axb4 b5 21.¤c7 bxc4 22.¤xa8 ¥xa8
23.¥d6 ¢f8 24.¥xe7+ ¢xe7 25.¦d4 c3 26.¦d3
c2 27.¦d2 ¤xe4 28.¦dxc2 ¦xc2 29.¦xc2
¤d6 and Black managed to hold in Gelfand-
Kramnik, Moscow 2011.) 11.¤d4 (11.¤e5
¤cd7 12.¥e2 ¤xe5 13.¥xe5 £a5 14.¥g3 b5
15.¥f3 ¦a7 16.¤e2 ¥b7 17.¥xb7 ¦xb7 18.¤d4
¦d7 19.£c2 ¥d6 20.¤c6 £b6 21.¥xd6 ¦xd6
22.¦ac1 and although White obtained a very
small edge in Aronian-Gelfand, Moscow 2011,
Black managed to save the game without too
many problems.) 11...¥d7 12.a3 ¦c8 13.¦c1
¤ce4 14.¤xe4 ¤xe4 15.¥d3 ¦xc1 16.£xc1
¤f6 17.¦d1 £b6 18.¥c2 ¦c8 and Black had
solved his problems in Aronian-Anand,
London 2011.
9.£c2
Obviously not the only move. Other
possibilities like 9.e4 or 9.¤e5 also deserve
further investigation.
9...¤h5 10.¥e5 f6 11.¤g5
The alternative 11.¥g3 apparently didn't suit
Giri and indeed doesn't give White any hope of
fighting for the initiative.
11...fxg5 12.¥xh5 ¥d7 13.¥f3
Attacking the pawn on b7 and intending
to place the ¥ on e4. Giri undoubtedly
underestimated Black's reply.
XIIIIIIIIY
9r+-wq-trk+0
9zppzplvl-zpp0
9-sn-+p+-+0
9+-+-vL-zp-0
9-+pzP-+-+0
9+-sN-zPL+-0
9PzPQ+-zPPzP0
9tR-+-+RmK-0
xiiiiiiiiy
13...¦xf3!
A powerful exchange sacrifice. At first sight
it seems Black can barely generate sufficient
play for the invested material, though the
long-term prospects are clearly in his favour.
14.gxf3 ¥d6 15.£e4 ¥c6 16.£g4 £e7
17.¥xd6
The alternative is 17.¤e4 though after
17...¥xe5 18.dxe5 h6 followed by 19...¦f8 Black
obtains more than sufficient compensation as
well.
17...cxd6 18.¤e4?
Aronian felt that his opponent lost track here.
Giri should instead have tried 18.e4 even
though it permanently weakens the f4-square.
18...h6 19.£g3 d5! 20.¤c3
After 20.¤c5 ¦e8 followed by ¤c8, the ¤ on
c5 finds itself in trouble.
161 | February 1 n 2012
20...¦f8 21.¤e2 ¦f5!
Anticipating 22.f4 which is now impossible due
to the pin along the g-file, while recapturing
with the e-pawn after 22...gxf4 leaves White
with a terrible pawn structure.
22.¢g2
In case of 22.£h3 Aronian intended to proceed
with 22...¥d7 preventing 23.f4 gxf4 24.¤xf4
which can then be met by 24...e5!.
22...¤d7! The ¤ is heading for h4.
23.¦h1 ¤f8 24.h4 ¤g6 25.f4
25.h5 is bad as well, because of 25...¤h4+.
25...¤xh4+ 26.¢f1 £b4 27.¦b1 ¥e8
It would also have been strong to play 27...£d2!
paralyzing White's position completely, though
Aronian's move shows that Black is in no hurry
to launch the decisive strike. Instead he slowly
improves his ''French bad ¥" first.
XIIIIIIIIY
9-+-+l+k+0
9zpp+-+-zp-0
9-+-+p+-zp0
9+-+p+rzp-0
9-wqpzP-zP-sn0
9+-+-zP-wQ-0
9PzP-+NzP-+0
9+R+-+K+R0
xiiiiiiiiy
28.¤c3 £e7 29.b4 ¦f8 30.¦b2 ¥g6 31.¢e1
¥d3 32.fxg5 ¤f3+ 33.¢d1 hxg5 34.£h3 £f6
35.¢c1 ¥g6 36.a4 ¦d8
Protecting the pawn on d5 so Black is ready to
open the centre with ...e5.
37.¤e2 e5 38.£g4 exd4 39.exd4
39.¤xd4 allows 39...¤e5 followed by the
invasion on d3.
39...¦e8 40.£d7 c3 41.¦a2
41.¦c2 can simply be met by 41...¦d8–+.
41...¤e1 42.¦xe1
42.¦h3 £xf2 is absolutely hopeless as well.
42...£f4+ 43.¢d1 £e4 and White resigned,
since after 44.£xe8+ ¥xe8 further loss of
material or mate is inevitable: 45.¤xc3 £d3+
46.¦d2 ¥h5+ 47.¤e2 £b1#. 0–1
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 openings what’s hot and what’s not? 161 | February 1 n 2012

thisweek’sharvest
Petroff, 5.¤c3 1.e4 e5 2.¤f3 ¤f6 3.¤xe5 d6 4.¤f3 ¤xe4 5.¤c3 ¤xc3 6.dxc3 ¥e7 7.¥e3 0–0 8.£d2 ¤d7
XIIIIIIIIY 9.0–0–0 ¤e5 10.h4 c6 11.¥g5 f6 12.¥f4 £a5 13.a3 ¥g4 14.¥e2 d5 15.¤xe5 fxe5 16.¥xe5
9-+-+-trk+0 ¦xf2 17.¦de1 ¥xe2 18.¦xe2 ¦f7 19.g3 ¦af8 20.¦he1 £d8 21.£d4 b5 22.¢b1 £d7 23.h5
9zp-+qvlrzpp0 By now 5.¤c3 has established itself as the modern main line of the Petroff, and a theoretical overview can be found
9-+p+-+-+0 in CVO 158. The edge White is playing for doesn't depend on any big novelties, as the point is that his position
tends to be easier to play. A key role is played by White's doubled c-pawns, which obviously aren't a weakness
9+p+pvL-+P0
but instead make White's ¢ the safer one - a factor that can extend deep into the endgame. In other words, a
9-+-wQ-+-+0 long-term advantage. The Wijk aan Zee encounters Topalov-Giri and Caruana-Gelfand followed a similar pattern:
9zP-zP-+-zP-0 White didn't necessarily get a real edge out of the opening, but sooner or later the doubled pawns made the
9-zPP+R+-+0 difference and allowed White to decide the game in his advantage. Topalov in fact played c4-c5 to put the black
9+K+-tR-+-0 position under serious pressure and decided the game with a direct kingside attack. Caruana used the doubled
xiiiiiiiiy c-pawns to great effect in a £ ending (!), preventing a perpetual check while pushing the b-pawn down the board.

1.e4 c5 2.¤f3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.¤xd4 ¤f6 5.¤c3 g6 6.¥e3 ¥g7 7.f3 0–0 8.£d2 ¤c6
9.0–0–0 d5 10.exd5 ¤xd5 11.¤xc6 bxc6 12.¥d4 ¥xd4 13.£xd4 £b6 14.¤a4 £c7 15.¥c4 Sicilian, Dragon
¦b8 16.¦he1 ¦b4 17.b3 £xh2 18.a3 ¦b7 19.¤c5 ¦c7 20.g4 £f4+ 21.£xf4 ¤xf4 22.b4 ¢g7 XIIIIIIIIY
In Wijk aan Zee Nakamura played the Dragon twice and had two very comfortable games, as his opponents 9-+l+-tr-+0
didn't really seem to be ready for it. Giri played the critical main line 9.¥c4 but was suprised by the old line 9zp-tr-zppmkp0
9...¤xd4. What Nakamura had in store will remain a mystery for the time being as Giri exchanged everything with 9-+p+-+p+0
the uncritical 14.¥xf6. Kamsky played the positional main line 9.0–0–0 and after 9...d5 10.exd5 ¤xd5 11.¤xc6
9+-sN-+-+-0
bxc6 12.¥d4 ¥xd4! 13.£xd4 £b6 we reach the position that is currently seen as critical for the evaluation
of 9.0–0–0. White tries to reach an endgame with his superior pawn structure, but it's not easy to eliminate
9-zPL+-snP+0
Black's counterplay as he can often simply throw his weak queenside pawns forward into an attack. In CVO
9zP-+-+P+-0
23 we focused on 14.¥c4!?, which was also played in the recent encounter Dominguez-Robson. After 14.¤a4 9-+P+-+-+0
Carlsen's 2009 novelty 14...£c7 has already had many followers and both 15...¦d8 and Nakamura's 15...¦b8 9+-mKRtR-+-0
seem to give Black full counterplay. In the diagram position Kamsky went astray with 23.¥a6? and was in xiiiiiiiiy
serious danger of losing before he escaped with a draw.

Symmetrical English 1.¤f3 c5 2.c4 ¤c6 3.¤c3 e5 4.e3 ¤f6 5.d4 cxd4 6.exd4 e4 7.¤e5 ¥b4 8.¥e2
XIIIIIIIIY £a5 9.0–0 ¤xe5 10.dxe5 £xe5 11.¥d2 ¥c5 12.¤b5 0–0 13.b4 ¥e7 14.f4 £e6 15.¥e3
9r+l+-trk+0 This variation of the Symmetrical English came into fashion during the last Candidates Tournament in Kazan,
9zpp+pvlpzpp0 May 2011. In CVO 125 we extensively covered the ins and outs of this specific variation, which served Black
9-+-+qsn-+0 quite well then and has continued to do so since. German GM Buhmann tried an interesting new idea with 9.0–0,
sacrificing a pawn in order to exploit the lead in development. His fresh attempt didn't acquire any followers
9+N+-+-+-0
until Aronian decided to give it a shot as well last week against Caruana. The latter seemed to be unaware of
9-zPP+pzP-+0 this resource as he soon got into serious trouble and had to give up a full ¦. Although the Armenian superstar
9+-+-vL-+-0 experienced some technical problems converting his material advantage, the outcome of the game was never in
9P+-+L+PzP0 doubt. 9.0–0!? deserves a closer look and more practical examples are required to judge the objective strength
9tR-+Q+RmK-0 of the idea. By returning the pawn immediately with 12...d5 Black can perhaps neutralize White's initiative.
xiiiiiiiiy
1.¤f3 d5 2.d4 ¤f6 3.c4 c6 4.e3 ¥f5 5.¤c3 e6 6.¤h4 ¥g6 7.¤xg6 hxg6 8.¥d3 ¤bd7 9.0–0 ¥d6 10.h3 £e7 Slow Slav
11.c5 ¥c7 12.f4 ¤g8 13.b4 a6 14.e4 dxe4 15.¤xe4 ¤df6 16.¤g5 £d7 17.¥c4 ¤e7 18.¥e3 ¤f5 19.£d3 ¦d8 XIIIIIIIIY
The Slow Slav (4.e3 ¥f5) has always been considered a risk-free line since after 6.¤h4 White can simply 9-+-trk+-tr0
torture his opponent with the long-term advantage of the pair of ¥s. However, the diagram shows that Black's 9+pvlq+pzp-0
position is too solid to breach immediately. Sargissian attempted to exploit his space advantage with 14.e4?!, 9p+p+psnp+0
which in fact only helps Black as the ¤s suddenly gain control of the central light squares. The Italian GM
9+-zP-+nsN-0
Brunello convincingly managed to convert his positional trumps in a double ¦ ending. Instead of Sargissian's
11.c5, Gustafsson's 11.¥d2 fits better into White's strategy as 11...0–0 can now be met by 12.c5! and 13.f4! when
9-zPLzP-zP-+0
Black is unable to regroup his ¤ via g8. Zhu Chen instead went for 11...dxc4 and tried to utilize the ¦ on the
9+-+QvL-+P0
open h-file. Had she played 18...¥xg3! Black would have obtained reasonable chances, though after 18...¦b8? 9P+-+-+P+0
White went on to win. So far only Carlsen has employed the variation 7.¤xg6 hxg6 8.¥d3!? successfully with 9tR-+-+RmK-0
two model wins against Gelfand. xiiiiiiiiy

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 openings what’s hot and what’s not? 161 | February 1 n 2012

it’syourmove
XIIIIIIIIY XIIIIIIIIY
O 9r+l+-trk+0 O9r+-+k+-tr0
9+-+-+-zp-0 9+-wqnzp-vl-0
9-+-+p+nzp0 9-+p+-zpp+0
9zpp+pzP-+-0 9zppzP-sNl+-0
9-+pzP-+-+0 9-+-zPpzP-zp0
9zP-zP-vLN+-0 9+-+-zP-+P0
9-+PmK-zPP+0 9PzP-vLL+P+0
9tR-+-+-+R0 9tR-+-wQRmK-0
xiiiiiiiiy xiiiiiiiiy

lastweek’ssolutions
XIIIIIIIIY
Giri-Gashimov, Tata Steel A (Wijk aan Zee), 2012 9r+l+kvl-tr0
Opening the e-file by accepting the piece sacrifice looks very scary, so Black instead sacrifices an exchange 9+-+n+pzpp0
himself with 10...b4! 11.¥xa8 bxc3 12.bxc3 £xa2 Now we have the same pawn structure as after the standard 9p+-zppsn-+0
¦xc3 exchange sacrifice. 13.£e2 ¥e7! A strong novelty. 14.¢d2 ¤xe4+! An effective tactic. 15.£xe4 ¥xg5+ 9wqp+L+-vL-0
16.f4 d5 17.¦a1? This leads to a bad endgame. 17.£e3. 17...£xa1 18.¦xa1 dxe4 19.fxg5 h6 20.g6 f5 21.¤xe6
9-+-sNP+-+0
¢e7 and Black converted his large endgame advantage: 22.¤f4 ¦d8 23.¥d5 ¤b6 24.c4 ¤xc4+ 25.¢c3 ¤e3
26.¥f7 ¦d6 27.¦a5 ¥d7 28.¦e5+ ¢f6 29.¦c5 ¢g5 30.g3 ¤f1 31.h4+ ¢g4 32.¦d5 ¦xd5 33.¤xd5 ¢xg3
9+-sN-+-+-0
34.¤f6 e3 35.¥c4 ¥b5 36.¤h5+ ¢f2 37.¤xg7 ¥xc4 38.¢xc4 e2 0–1
9PzPPwQ-zPPzP0
9+-mKR+-+R0
XIIIIIIIIY xiiiiiiiiy
9r+l+-trk+0 Caruana-Ivanchuk, Tata Steel A (Wijk aan Zee), 2012
9zp-wq-+pzp-0 White has a promising position as all his pieces are perfectly developed, while Black stands passively. On the
9-zp-+psn-zp0 other hand, it's not easy for White to increase his advantage. The engines come up with a creative solution. 17.h3
9+-+-sN-+-0 It’s hard to gain anything from this move. Surprisingly strong seems to be 17.g4! ¥b7 18.h4 ¤d5 (18...¦ad8?
can be met by 19.¦xd8 ¦xd8 20.¦xd8+ £xd8 21.¤xf7!+-) 19.g5 with a powerful initiative on the kingside.
9-+LtR-+-+0
17...¥b7 18.¦d7 £c8 19.¤xf7 ¤xd7 20.¤xh6+ ¢h7! 20...gxh6? 21.£xe6++-; 20...¢h8? loses to 21.¤f7+!
9+-+-+-+-0 ¦xf7 (21...¢g8 22.¤d6+-) 22.£h5+ ¢g8 23.¥xe6 £e8 24.¥xf7+ £xf7 25.£xf7+ ¢xf7 26.¦xd7+ with a winning
9PzPP+QzPPzP0 ¦ endgame for White. 21.£h5 ¤f6! and a draw was agreed, in view of 22.¥d3+ ¢h8 23.¤f7+ ¢g8 24.¤h6+
9+-+R+-mK-0 gxh6 25.£g6+ ¢h8 26.£xh6+ ¢g8 27.£g6+=. ½–½
xiiiiiiiiy

openings
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