openings 229 | May 22n 2013

what’s hot and what’s not?

XIIIIIIIIY
Karjakin wins 9rsnlwq-trk+0
9zppzp-zppvlp0

in Norway
9-+-+-+p+0
9+-+-+-+-0
9-+-zPP+-+0
9+-vL-+-+-0
9PzP-+-zPPzP0
IM Merijn van Delft & IM Robert Ris
9tR-+QmKLsNR0
xiiiiiiiiy
Magnus Carlsen didn't manage to win the first super Frequency
tournament in his home country. It was Sergey Karjakin
who recovered from his loss against the world's number
one (see last week) and went on to win the tournament.

what’shot?
Score
In the second half of the tournament Karjakin fought all his battles in the
1.e4 realm and below we have a closer look at them. With Black in the
4.d3 Anti-Berlin things went well initially, but with a draw against Anand
and a loss against Svidler the result wasn't a walk in the park. With White
Karjakin tried the 6.¥g5 Najdorf twice and here the picture was reversed:
no great positions after the opening, but a win against Nakamura and the
draw he needed in the last round against Topalov. Nakamura also did
reasonably well with 1.e4, drawing Svidler in the Ponziani and beating
Radjabov in the Kalashnikov. Svidler-Topalov was a comfortable draw
for Black in the 3.¥b5 ¤d7 Sicilian.

Creating winning chances with Black was nearly impossible, but Carlsen
did draw comfortably with the QGD in the last round against Aronian.
Below we examine Nakamura's handling of the Noteboom Variation.
Topalov couldn't really impress with the white pieces, drawing Wang Hao
(Semi-Tarrasch) and Aronian (Nimzo-Indian).

Carlsen used the Symmetrical English to play long games, but whereas
against Radjabov he won the ending, he lost the endgame against Wang
Hao. After beating the highest rated player in the world, the Chinese top Source: Megabase + TWIC, 2500+ only
grandmaster went on to beat the World Champion in the Symmetrical
English as well. Wang Hao-Aronian was drawn in the Réti.

Hammer wasn't on fire in his first elite tournament, but he will surely profit from this experience. Aronian-Hammer was a very quick
win for White in the sharp 8.¦b1 Grünfeld. Later on, in Radjabov-Svidler, this line was repaired for Black. In our Game of the Week
Hammer actually kept up with the World Champion in the 5.¥d2 Grünfeld, but collapsed at the critical
moment. In both Hammer-Carlsen and Radjabov-Anand White untypically lost in the Catalan. what’snot?
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 openings what’s hot and what’s not?
Battling with the World Champion
Facing the bottom seed in Norway, Jon Ludvig Hammer, Vishy Anand consistently raised
the stakes in the following game until it reached crisis point. Let’s have a look and enjoy the
tension.
gameoftheweek Anand - Hammer
Anand,V (2783) - Hammer,J (2608)
Norway Chess (Sandnes), 17.05.2013
D85, Grünfeld, 5.¥d2
1.d4 ¤f6 2.c4 g6 3.¤c3 d5 4.cxd5 ¤xd5
5.¥d2 ¥g7
Another branch is 5...¤b6 which was seen
recently in Svidler-Gelfand (CVO 221).
6.e4 ¤xc3
In CVO 45 we had a look 6...¤b6 which was
seen in the model game Anand-Svidler.
7.¥xc3 0–0 8.£d2
8.¤f3 has also been tested in a couple of
games, but after 8...¥g4 White's chances of
building up an attack against the black ¢ are
minimal.
8...c5 9.d5 ¥xc3 10.bxc3 e6
An important alternative is 10...£d6!? 11.f4
(11.¤f3 ¥g4 12.¤g1 ¥c8 13.¤f3 ¥g4 14.¤g1
is a remarkable repetition of moves which
was seen in Arutinian-Kasimdzhanov, Konya
2011.) 11...¤d7 12.e5 £c7 13.h4 c4 14.h5 ¤b6
15.¤f3 ¥g4 16.hxg6 fxg6 17.¤g5 ¦ad8 18.d6
exd6 19.¦xh7 £c5 20.¦h6 dxe5 21.¦xg6+
¢h8 22.¤f7+ ¢h7 and now in Riazantsev-
Edouard, Belfort 2012 White should have
forced a draw with 23.f5 ¦xd2 24.¤g5+ ¢h8
25.¦h6+ ¢g7 26.¦g6+=.
11.d6!?
Certainly a more inspiring continuation than
11.¥c4 exd5 12.¥xd5 ¤c6 13.¤f3 £f6 14.0–0
¥g4 15.£e3 ¥xf3 16.gxf3 ¦ae8 17.¢h1 b5 and
Black is absolutely fine in Gelfand-Grischuk,
London 2013.
11...e5
Anand didn't pay attention to this natural
continuation. Amongst previously tried moves
11...¥d7 seems to be the most critical.
12.h4 ¥e6 13.¤h3
Attempting to improve upon 13.h5 g5 which
didn't pose Black too many problems in
Akesson-Boros, Budapest 2008. Note that
13.¤f3 is inaccurate in view of 13...f6! when
the ¤ is misplaced.
13...£xh4!
A consistent and brave decision. If 13...f6
White can give the attack a new impulse with
14.f4!.
14.0–0–0 £xe4 15.¥d3
The World Champion is playing with fire as
he failed to find anything after 15.¤g5 £f4!
16.£xf4 exf4 17.¤xh7 ¦d8 18.¤g5 ¤d7
19.¤xe6 fxe6 20.¥c4 ¤f8 with approximate
equality.
15...£a4 16.¤g5
16.£h6 doesn't work in view of 16...¥xh3
17.¦xh3 £f4+ and Black is fine.
16...£xa2 17.£e3 £a3+
It seems that Black could have forced a draw
with 17...¤c6 18.¤xh7 ¤a5 19.¤f6+ ¢g7
20.£h6+ ¢xf6 21.£h4+ and a repetition is
inevitable.
18.¢d2 £b2+ 19.¥c2 ¥f5
XIIIIIIIIY
9rsn-+-trk+0
9zpp+-+p+p0
9-+-zP-+p+0
9+-zp-zplsN-0
9-+-+-+-+0
9+-zP-wQ-+-0
9-wqLmK-zPP+0
9+-+R+-+R0
xiiiiiiiiy
20.¦c1?
Objectively an error. Anand refrained from
20.¤xh7 which allows 20...¥xc2! (20...£xc2+?
21.¢e1 and the white ¢ is safe.) 21.£h6
¥xd1+ 22.¢xd1 £b1+ 23.¢d2 £b2+ with a
draw.
20...¦d8?
The only mistake, but decisive. Interesting is
20...h5 when Anand would have proceeded
with 21.g4! and now 21...¥xc2 would have
been better, even though White retains the
better prospects after (21...¥xg4? gives
White a devastating attack after 22.¤e4! ¤d7
(22...¤c6 23.£h6 leads to mate.) 23.¦cg1!)
22.¦xc2 £b3 23.¤e4 ¤d7 24.£h6!. Curiously,
neither player mentioned the possibility of
229 | May 22n 2013
completing development with 20...¤c6!
intending to meet 21.¤xh7 with 21...¦fd8!
when Black in fact seems to have the upper
hand in these complications.
21.¤xf7! ¢xf7
21...¤c6 is strongly met by 22.¤h6+! followed
by 23.¤xf5.
22.£xe5 ¦xd6+
22...¢g8 leads to mate after 23.£d5+ ¢g7
24.¦xh7+! ¢xh7 25.¦h1+ ¢g7 26.£e5+ ¢f7
27.¦h7+ ¢g8 28.£h8#.
23.£xd6 ¤c6 24.¦xh7+ ¢g8 25.¦d7!
An important resource, because after 25.£c7
¦d8+ 26.¢e2 £b5+ 27.¢f3 ¦d3+ 28.¥xd3
£xd3+ 29.¢f4 g5+! 30.¢xg5 ¥xh7 Black is not
even worse. After the text it's basically over.
XIIIIIIIIY
9r+-+-+k+0
9zpp+R+-+-0
9-+nwQ-+p+0
9+-zp-+l+-0
9-+-+-+-+0
9+-zP-+-+-0
9-wqLmK-zPP+0
9+-tR-+-+-0
xiiiiiiii
25...¦e8
25...¥xd7 doesn't offer salvation in view of
26.£xg6+ ¢f8 27.£f6+ ¢g8 28.¦h1 ¥h3
29.¦xh3 ¦d8+ 30.¢e3 £c1+ 31.¢f3 and
White wins.
26.£f6 ¥xd7 27.£xg6+ ¢f8 28.£f6+ ¢g8
29.¦h1 ¦e2+ 30.¢xe2 ¤d4+
After 30...£xc2+ 31.¢e3 Black runs out of
checks.
31.cxd4 £xc2+ 32.¢e3 £c3+ 33.¢f4 £xd4+
33...£d2+ 34.¢g3 £d3+ 35.f3 and White wins.
34.£xd4 cxd4 35.¢e4 a5
Black can't reduce the number of white §s
to one by means of 35...¥c6+ 36.¢xd4 as
36...¥xg2 fails to 37.¦g1.
36.¢xd4 a4 37.¢c3 b5 38.¢b4 ¢f7 39.¦h7+
¢e6 40.g4 ¥e8 41.f4 ¢f6 42.¦h6+ ¢g7 43.g5
¥g6 44.¦h3 ¥f5 45.¦e3 1–0
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 openings what’s hot and what’s not? 229 | May 22n 2013

thisweek’sharvest
1.e4 e5 2.¤f3 ¤c6 3.¥b5 ¤f6 4.d3 ¥c5 5.c3 0–0 6.0–0 d6 7.h3 ¤e7 8.d4 ¥b6 9.¦e1 d5 10.¤xe5 ¤xe4 11.¤d2
Ruy Lopez, Anti-Berlin ¤xd2 12.¥xd2 f6 13.¤d3 ¥d7 14.a4 c6 15.a5 ¥xa5 16.¤c5 ¥c8 17.¥d3 ¥b6 18.¤e6 ¥xe6 19.¦xe6 ¤g6
XIIIIIIIIY In the sixth round Anand-Karjakin saw 5.¥xc6, leading to a long struggle that was reminiscent of Anand-
9r+-wq-trk+0 Kramnik, London 2012. White took a risk with 22.g4, but Black even more so with the anti-positional 27...b5?.
9zpp+-+-zpp0 After White missed some chances for a structural edge, the game was drawn. Two rounds later Svidler-Karjakin
9-vlp+Rzpn+0 was a fairly heroic encounter with a lot of drama. 9...d5! is actually a good novelty, leading to an equal game
9+-+p+-+-0 if Black follows up with 11...¤d6! 12.¥d3 c6 13.¤ef3 ¥f5. On move 14 Svidler played 14.a4! which is actually
9-+-zP-+-+0 a very deep concept based on a positional pawn sacrifice. Incidentally, White had the equally deep tactical
sequence 14.¤f4!! ¥xb5 15.¤e6 £d7 16.¤xf8 ¦xf8 17.a4! ¥a6 18.a5 available, after which he would remain
9+-zPL+-+P0
an exchange up. In the diagram position 20.£g4! would have been more accurate, but Svidler played 20.£h5,
9-zP-vL-zPP+0 a mistake he was very annoyed about. At that point, however, the game had barely started and after many
9tR-+Q+-mK-0 adventures it was the white bishop pair that brought home the victory after all.
xiiiiiiiiy
1.e4 c5 2.¤f3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.¤xd4 ¤f6 5.¤c3 a6 6.¥g5 ¤bd7 7.£e2 g6 8.0–0–0 Sicilian, 6.¥g5 ¤bd7
¥g7 9.f4 £a5 10.g3 h6 11.¥xf6 ¤xf6 12.¥g2 ¥g4 13.¥f3 ¥xf3 14.£xf3 0–0 15.¦he1 XIIIIIIIIY
In Norway Karjakin played the classical attacking line 6.¥g5 against the Najdorf twice, and apart from Karjakin- 9r+-+-trk+0
Kokarev, Sochi 2012, nobody seems to be very eager to test his preparation in the Poisoned Pawn Variation. 9+p+-zppvl-0
Nakamura played the flexible 6...¤bd7 after which 7.£e2 has clearly established itself as the main line. 7...g6!? 9p+-zp-snpzp0
is also following the latest trend, as White may not be perfectly ready to cope with a Dragon set-up. Both players
9wq-+-+-+-0
seemed to be at a bit of a loss regarding the optimal move order. 9...0–0 looks more reliable, judging from the
games that have been played with it recently. White seems to hold a nice edge following the natural 10.¢b1 h6
9-+-sNPzP-+0
11.¥h4. Giving up the dark-squared bishop with 11.¥xf6? was badly timed (it looks better to keep the bishop for
9+-sN-+QzP-0
the moment with 11.¥h4) and in the diagram position Black could have generated good counterplay starting with 9PzPP+-+-zP0
15...¦ac8!. Instead, after 15...¤d7 16.¤b3, White gained the initiative bit by bit and after some mutual mistakes 9+-mKRtR-+-0
and a nasty combination White reached a winning endgame. xiiiiiiiiy

Slav, Noteboom 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.¤f3 c6 4.¤c3 dxc4 5.e3 b5 6.a4 ¥b4 7.¥d2 a5 8.axb5 ¥xc3 9.¥xc3 cxb5 10.b3 ¥b7
XIIIIIIIIY 11.bxc4 b4 12.¥b2 ¤f6 13.¥d3 0–0 14.0–0 ¤bd7 15.¤d2 £c7 16.f4 a4 17.¦b1 ¦fd8 18.£e2 b3 19.¥a1 £d6
9r+-tr-+k+0 The Noteboom Variation is a special chapter within the Slav. The initial setup with c6–d5–e6 is soon transformed
9+l+n+pzpp0 into a pawn structure with a black majority on the queenside vs. a central advantage for White. Even though
9-+-wqpsn-+0 White seems to have the better prospects in this line from a theoretical point of view, I (RR) have always avoided
9+-+-+-+-0 these kind of positions, believing that Black's position is easier to handle from a practical view. In the game
9p+PzP-zP-+0 Hammer-Nakamura this opinion was confirmed by the fact that the Norwegian consumed a lot of time which
directly influenced his downfall before reaching the time control. With 19...£d6!? Black deviated from earlier
9+p+LzP-+-0
games and his idea was revealed after 20.e4 ¤c5!, underlining the lack of coordination between the white
9-+-sNQ+PzP0 forces. In fact, White's position would still have been playable had he opted for 23.¦f3! instead of 23.£g4? in
9vLR+-+RmK-0 combination with 25.£g5? which simply doesn't work out well for him. Other interesting options for White are
xiiiiiiiiy 15.¦e1 and 16.f3, which have been seen before in several high-profile games.

1.d4 ¤f6 2.c4 g6 3.¤c3 d5 4.cxd5 ¤xd5 5.e4 ¤xc3 6.bxc3 ¥g7 7.¤f3 c5 8.¦b1 0–0 9.¥e2 cxd4 Grünfeld, 8.¦b1
10.cxd4 £a5+ 11.¥d2 £xa2 12.0–0 ¥g4 13.¦xb7 ¥xf3 14.¥xf3 ¥xd4! 15.¥b4 ¤c6 16.¥xe7 ¦fe8 17.¥g5 XIIIIIIIIY
It is simply impossible to crack the Grünfeld and the only chance of being successful is to use the element of 9r+-+r+k+0
surprise. In CVO 225 we updated you on the ''Poisoned Pawn'' (11...£xa2) variation against the almost forgotten 9zpR+-+p+p0
8.¦b1, which is currently making a strong comeback in elite tournaments. By following a similar strategy to 9-+n+-+p+0
Mamedyarov's (13.d5!?) in the aforementioned issue, Aronian caught his opponent Hammer by surprise, 9+-+-+-vL-0
deviating from the main line with the natural pawn grab 13.¦xb7. Being confronted with an unknown line in such
9-+-vlP+-+0
a complex situation is rarely a pleasure, and this was no exception: Black lost in 24 moves. A couple of days
later Radjabov opted for the same line in his game versus Svidler. The Russian expert had clearly done his
9+-+-+L+-0
homework and equalised comfortably after 13...¥xf3! 14.¥xf3 ¥xd4! followed by the accurate 17...¥b6! when
9q+-+-zPPzP0
there isn't anything White can even dream of achieving. It just seems to be a matter of time before players will 9+-+Q+RmK-0
return to the main continuation, 13.¥g5, which has served White incredibly well over the past two decades. xiiiiiiiiy

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 openings what’s hot and what’s not? 229 | May 22n 2013

it’syourmove
XIIIIIIIIY XIIIIIIIIY
O 9r+l+k+-tr0 O9r+lwq-trk+0
9+pwqp+p+p0 9zppzpnvlp+p0
9p+-+-+p+0 9-+n+p+-+0
9+-+-snNvL-0 9+-+-zP-zp-0
9-vl-+P+n+0 9-+P+-vL-+0
9+-sNL+-+-0 9zP-sN-+N+-0
9PzPPwQ-+PzP0 9-zPQ+-zPPzP0
9tR-+-mK-+R0 9tR-+-mKL+R0
xiiiiiiiiy xiiiiiiiiy

lastweek’ssolutions
XIIIIIIIIY
Svidler-Anand, Norway Chess (Sandnes), 2013 9r+-wq-trk+0
A fairly quiet position where both sides aim to carry out their strategic goals. Evidently White hadn't reckoned 9+p+nvlpzp-0
with the following move which seems to have been ruled out by White's set-up. 12...b5! A Najdorf player should 9p+-zplsn-+0
always try to facilitate this move! 13.axb5 axb5 14.¦xa8 14.¤xb5 £b6 gives Black typical compensation for 9+-+-zp-vLp0
the §. 14...£xa8 15.¤xb5 £b8 16.¥xf6 ¤xf6 16...¥xf6 is possible too. 17.£d3 £c8 18.¤xd6 Neither player
9P+-+P+-+0
was aware of an earlier game, which went 18.b3 ¥xh3 19.c4 , Naiditsch-Urkedal, Stockholm 2011, and now
Svidler thought White could only be worse after 19...¦d8 18...¥xd6 19.£xd6 £xc2 20.¤c3 £xb2 Black has
9+-sN-+-zPP0
comfortably equalised. 21.¤d1 £b8 22.£xb8 ¦xb8 23.¤e3 g6 24.h4 ¤g4 25.¤xg4 ¥xg4 26.¦c1 ¢g7 27.¦c5
9-zPP+NzPL+0
¦b1+ 28.¢h2 ¦b2 29.¢g1 ¦b1+ 30.¢h2 ½–½ 9tR-+Q+RmK-0
XIIIIIIIIY xiiiiiiiiy
9-+r+k+-tr0 Carlsen-Topalov, Norway Chess (Sandnes), 2013
9zpp+lzppvlp0 15...¥f5+! A very accurate intermezzo move, forcing White's answer and thus leaving ¥g2 offside. Following the
9-+-+-+p+0 immediate 15...¥xd4 16.¦xd4 ¥e6 White has 17.¦a4! ¤c6 (17...b6 18.b4 also wins the a-pawn.) 18.¥xc6+ ¦xc6
9sn-+-+-+-0 19.¦xa7 with a healthy pawn up. 16.e4 ¥xd4 17.¦xd4 ¥e6 18.b3 Now 18.¦a4 ¤c6 is very comfortable for Black.
18...f6! Creating a nice square for the king. 19.f4 ¢f7 20.¢b2 ¦hd8 Black has solved his opening problems.
9-+-vL-+-+0
White has more space, but his central pawn on e4 makes the bishop on g2 an ineffective piece.
9+-sN-+-zP-0
9PzPK+PzPLzP0
9+-tRR+-+-0
xiiiiiiiiy

openings
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