openings 152 | November 30 n 2011

what’s hot and what’s not?

XIIIIIIIIY
QGD and Grünfeld 9rsnlwq-trk+0
9zppzp-zppvlp0

dominate Tal Memorial

9-+-+-snp+0
9+-+p+-+-0
9-+PzP-vL-+0
9+-sN-zP-+-0
9PzP-+-zPPzP0
By IM Merijn van Delft & IM Robert Ris
9+-tRQmKLsNR0
xiiiiiiiiy
With an amazing average Elo of 2776 the Tal Memorial in Frequency
Moscow was the strongest tournament of the year. Carlsen
(who turns 21 today) and Aronian shared first place with
5.5 out of 9 in an event dominated by the QGD and the
Grünfeld. We also take a look at the strong Spanish League.

what'shot?
The most popular opening in Moscow was the Queen's Gambit Declined Score
(QGD), typically through a 1.d4 ¤f6 2.c4 e6 3.¤f3 d5 4.¤c3 ¥e7 move
order, since White's options are slightly limited with the ¤ already
developed to f3. Below we'll update you on the 5.¥f4 main line. After
1.d4 ¤f6 2.c4 e6 White's other options are allowing the Nimzo-Indian
with 3.¤c3 (see Nepomniachtchi-Karjakin) and heading for the Catalan
with 3.g3 (see Kramnik-Karjakin). Black's main alternative after 1.d4 ¤f6
2.c4 e6 3.¤f3 is to play the Queen's Indian with 3...b6 (see Nakamura-
Carlsen).

The other major opening in Moscow was the Grünfeld. Our Game of the
Week saw Ivanchuk beat Nakamura with Black in the 4.¥f4 Grünfeld (in
the diagram position he went for 6...dxc4), while Aronian beat Svidler
with White in this line a day later (see PGN). Below we'll examine 10...
e6 in the Grünfeld main line, while 10...b6 was played in Carlsen-Svidler
(see p.4).

In Ivanchuk-Gelfand (Anti-Meran) Black deviated from CVO 148 Game

of the Week Sasikiran-Anand with 12...exd4 and drew comfortably.
Svidler got very good positions with 1.¤f3, beating Kramnik and almost
beating Nepomniachtchi.

1.e4 was not hot at all in Moscow, as it was played in only 3 of 20 games in the second half of the tournament and in 9 out of 45
games overall. And with 6.d3 in the Ruy Lopez (see p.4) and 3.¥b5+ in the Sicilian these weren't exactly the main lines either. Below
we take a look at an exciting game with the latter from the Spanish League. Also not hot this week was
World Champion Anand, who drew all his games. what’snot?
1 of 4
 openings
A positional exchange sacrifice
When Nakamura lashed out with the concrete 8.¤b5 in a very interesting line of the
Grünfeld, Ivanchuk typically reacted with a positional exchange sacrifice. Nakamura declined
and gradually lost the initiative.
gameoftheweek Nakamura - Ivanchuk
Nakamura,H (2758)-Ivanchuk,V (2775)
Tal Memorial (Moscow), 17.11.2011
D83 Grünfeld, 4.¥f4
1.d4 ¤f6 2.c4 g6 3.¤c3 d5 4.¥f4 ¥g7 5.e3 0–0
The main move is 5...c5 which was played
by Svidler against Aronian in the 8th round.
Although White won that game, it didn't have
much to do with the outcome of the opening.
6.¦c1 dxc4
A rarely seen move nowadays.
a) A more fashionable continuation is 6...¥e6
7.£b3 c5 8.£xb7 £b6 (8...cxd4? 9.exd4 £b6
10.£xa8 ¤h5 11.c5 £xb2 12.¥d2 ¥xd4 13.¤f3
¤d7 14.£xf8+ ¢xf8 15.¤xd4 and White was
winning in Aronian-Nepomniachtchi, Wijk aan
Zee 2011.) 9.£xb6 axb6 10.¤f3 ¤c6 11.dxc5
bxc5 12.cxd5 ¤xd5 13.¤xd5 ¥xd5 14.¦xc5
e6 15.¥c4 ¥xc4 16.¦xc4 ¦xa2 17.0–0 ¤a5
18.¦c5 ¤b7 19.¦c7 ¦xb2 was seen in various
games, e.g. Malakhov-Svidler, Olginka 2011
and Black should be able to hold this slightly
unpleasant endgame.
b) 6...c5 has been played several times as well,
but doesn't really equalize: 7.dxc5 ¥e6 8.¤f3
¤c6 9.¥e2 ¤e4 (9...dxc4 10.¤g5 ¥f5 11.e4 e5
12.¥e3 ¥d7 13.¥xc4 ¤g4 14.¥d2 ¤d4 15.0–0
was better for White in So-Sutovsky, Wijk
aan Zee 2010.) 10.¤d4 ¤xd4 11.exd4 ¤xc3
12.bxc3 dxc4 13.0–0 ¥d5 14.¥f3 was slightly
better for White in L'Ami-Mamedyarov, Novi
Sad 2009.
7.¥xc4 ¤bd7 8.¤b5?!
A very dubious idea. More solid is 8.¤f3 c5
9.0–0 and now:
a) 9.h3 cxd4 10.exd4 ¤b6 11.¥b3 ¤fd5
(11...¤bd5! might be a better option.) 12.¥g5
h6 13.¥h4 ¥e6 14.0–0 ¤xc3 15.bxc3 ¤c4
16.¦e1 ¦c8 was seen in Almeida Quintana-
Krasenkow, Barcelona 2009 and now it
would have been strong to play the thematic
exchange sacrifice 17.¦xe6! fxe6 18.£d3 with
excellent play for White.
b) 9.dxc5 ¤xc5 10.0–0 ¥e6 11.¥xe6 ¤xe6
12.¥e5 £xd1 13.¦fxd1 ¦fd8 14.¢f1 ¦ac8
what’s hot and what’s not?
(14...¤d7?! 15.¥xg7 ¢xg7 16.¤d5! ¤b6
17.¤xb6 axb6 18.a3 led to a very unpleasant
endgame for Black in Karpov-Kasparov, New
York rapid 2002, due to his weak doubled
pawns..) 15.¢e2 ¤d7 16.¥xg7 ¢xg7 17.¦d2
¤b6 18.¦dc2 f6 with equality in Aleksandrov-
Van Wely, Plovdiv 2003.
c) 9...cxd4 10.exd4 ¤b6 (10...a6?! 11.¦e1 ¤b6
12.¥b3 ¤bd5 13.¥g5 ¥e6 14.¤e5 £d6 15.£f3
¦ad8 was seen in Ftacnik-Svidler, Germany
2003 and now 16.¤a4! would have given
White a clear edge.) 11.¥b3 ¤bd5 12.¥e5
¥h6 13.¦a1 b6 14.¦e1 ¥b7 15.£e2 ¦c8 was
unproblematic for Black in Pinter-Ftacnik,
Austria 2004.
8...c6! 9.¥c7
9.¤c7? simply fails to 9...¦b8 when the ¤ is
just trapped.
9...£e8 10.¤c3 e5
XIIIIIIIIY
9r+l+qtrk+0
9zppvLn+pvlp0
9-+p+-snp+0
9+-+-zp-+-0
9-+LzP-+-+0
9+-sN-zP-+-0
9PzP-+-zPPzP0
9+-tRQmK-sNR0
xiiiiiiiiy
11.dxe5?!
After this move Black has a pleasant, risk-
free position. Play would have been more
double-edged after 11.¥d6 exd4 12.¥xf8 when
Ivanchuk was intending to play 12...¢xf8!?
but also interesting is 12...dxc3 13.¥xg7 cxb2
14.¦b1 ¢xg7 when Black in both cases seems
to have at least sufficient compensation.
11...¤xe5 12.¥e2 ¥f5 13.¤f3 ¤xf3+ 14.¥xf3
¦c8 15.¥g3 ¤e4 16.¥xe4 ¥xe4 17.0–0 ¦d8
18.£a4 ¥d3 19.¦fd1 b5 20.£a5
It seems that White should have tried 20.£xa7
b4 21.¤a4 with good chances of holding, since
Black doesn't win a piece by means of 21...¦a8
22.£c5 as the ¥ is hanging on d3 now as well.
152 | November 30 n 2011
20...¦d7 21.¦d2 £e7 22.¦cd1 ¦fd8 23.a3 h5
24.h3 h4 25.¥h2 ¢h7?!
25...¥f6!? might be a better option, preventing
26.¥c7? ¦xc7 27.¦xd3 ¦xd3 28.¦xd3 ¦d7
29.¦xd7 £xd7 since now 30.£b4 doesn't
attack the pawn on h4 and thus Black retains a
clear advantage after 30...£d2!.
26.¥c7! ¦xc7 27.¦xd3 ¦xd3 28.¦xd3 ¥f6
28...¦d7 29.¦xd7 £xd7 30.£b4! is playable for
White.
29.¦d2?
White should have tried 29.£b4! anyway,
accepting a slightly inferior, but probably
holdable endgame.
29...¦d7 30.¦c2
30.¦xd7 £xd7 followed by 31...£d2 clearly
favors Black.
30...£e6 31.£b4
XIIIIIIIIY
9-+-+-+-+0
9zp-+r+p+k0
9-+p+qvlp+0
9+p+-+-+-0
9-wQ-+-+-zp0
9zP-sN-zP-+P0
9-zPR+-zPP+0
9+-+-+-mK-0
xiiiiiiiiy
31...a5! 32.£f4
32.£xa5 £b3 is simply bad for White. Instead
White should again have aimed to escape
into an inferior endgame by offering the
exchange of £s. After 32.£g4! £xg4 33.hxg4
¥xc3 34.¦xc3 ¦d1+ 35.¢h2 ¦d2 36.f3 ¦xb2
37.¦xc6 White should be able to hold.
32...¢g7 33.¦c1 a4 34.£b4 ¦d3 35.¦c2?
An amazing blunder from the American GM,
who had been badly out of shape for the entire
event. He could have prolonged the struggle
with 35.¢f1.
35...£b3! 36.£xb3
36.¦c1 loses to 36...£xb4 37.axb4 a3–+.
36...axb3 37.¦c1 ¥xc3! 38.bxc3 c5 39.¢f1
c4 40.¢e2 ¦xc3! and White resigned. 0–1
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 openings what’s hot and what’s not? 152 | November 30 n 2011

thisweek’sharvest
Sicilian, 3.¥b5+ 1.e4 c5 2.¤f3 d6 3.¥b5+ ¤d7 4.d4 cxd4 5.£xd4 a6 6.¥xd7+ ¥xd7 7.¤c3 e5 8.£d3 h6 9.¤d2 ¦c8 10.¤c4 £c7
XIIIIIIIIY 11.¤e3 ¤f6 12.0–0 ¥e7 13.a4 £c5 14.¦d1 ¥e6 15.£e2 0–0 16.¦d3 ¥d8 17.£f3 ¢h7 18.¤f5 ¦c6 19.b3 ¥a5
9-+-+-tr-+0 In CVO 148 we took a first good look at the 3...¤d7 line as an answer to White's 3.¥b5+ Anti-Sicilian. In Anand-
9+p+-+pzpk0 Sasikiran 4...¤gf6 was played (initially giving Black a good position) and we also examined 7.c4!? giving White
9p+rzplsn-zp0 a nice endgame in Jones-Cheparinov. This week in Fedorchuk-Ponomariov White went for 7.¤c3, after which
9vl-wq-zpN+-0 7...¦c8!? seems to be a nice flexible move scoring well for Black. Ponomariov's 7...e5 is also fairly normal and the
next point was to answer Fedorchuk's 9.¤d2!? with a quick 9...¦c8 and 10...£c7 to limit White's options. 13...£c5
9P+-+P+-+0
was the first new move and the position seems to be balanced after a counterattacking move like 17...b5. With
9+PsNR+Q+-0 17...¢h7 Ponomariov went astray and in the diagram position White started a fierce attack with the triple punch
9-+P+-zPPzP0 20.¤xg7! ¢xg7 21.¥xh6! ¢g6 22.¤d5! and Black is mated in all variations, as happened in the game on move
9tR-vL-+-mK-0 25. So Black is far from theoretically busted in the 3.¥b5+ ¤d7 variation, but he certainly needs to know what he's
xiiiiiiiiy doing in these interesting positions.

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.¤c3 ¥b4 4.¤ge2 dxe4 5.a3 ¥e7 6.¤xe4 ¤f6 7.¤xf6+ ¥xf6 8.¥e3 French, 3.¤c3 ¥b4 4.¤ge2
0–0 9.£d2 b6 10.0–0–0 ¥b7 11.¤f4 ¤d7 12.d5 e5 13.¤h5 ¥e7 14.f4 exf4 15.¥xf4 ¥d6 XIIIIIIIIY
For active and ambitious 1.e4 players the move 3.¤c3 against the French is a very logical choice, as 3.¤d2 and 9r+-wq-trk+0
3.e5 are more positional. Still, the breathtaking complications of the French Winawer can be quite a challenge to 9zplzpn+pzpp0
deal with, so a back-up weapon to be able to fall back on every now and then is more than welcome. This week 9-zp-vl-+-+0
the entertaining game Negi-Giri was a good advertisement for exactly such an easy-to-handle variation, that 9+-+P+-+N0
still contains enough poison to trouble your opponent: 4.¤ge2!?. As Giri has only just started to play the French
9-+-+-vL-+0
Defense he was a bit at a loss to find a convincing setup for Black. 5...¥xc3 6.¤xc3 ¤c6 is the other main line,
which we may return to some other time. Actually, it feels reassuring to have the bishop pair in that case. With
9zP-+-+-+-0
7.¤xf6!? Negi clearly directed his play towards castling queenside and after his novelty 11.¤f4! he did indeed
9-zPPwQ-+PzP0
develop a nice initiative. In the diagram position he started a strong attack with the impressive 16.¥h6!! and never 9+-mKR+L+R0
let go. xiiiiiiiiy

QGD, 5.¥f4 1.d4 ¤f6 2.c4 e6 3.¤f3 d5 4.¤c3 ¥e7 5.¥f4 0–0 6.e3 ¤bd7 7.¥e2 dxc4 8.0–0 c5 9.dxc5 ¤xc5 10.¥xc4
XIIIIIIIIY £xd1 11.¦fxd1 b6 12.¤d4 ¥b7 13.¦ac1 a6 14.b4 ¤ce4 15.¤xe4 ¥xe4 16.a3 ¦fc8 17.f3 ¥b7 18.e4 a5
9r+r+-+k+0 The Queen's Gambit Declined is probably the most topical answer to 1.d4 and we can hardly avoid mentioning
9+l+-vlpzpp0 it every week. The variation with 5.¥f4 especially is developing at a fast pace, as this week no less than five top
9-zp-+psn-+0 encounters were played with the system. In Gelfand-Anand, Black comfortably drew against 6.a3 by taking the
9zp-+-+-+-0 pawn on c4, while Vallejo-Sargissian led to more complex play after 6...b6. The main position still arises after 6.e3
¤bd7, when Nepomniachtchi tried 7.£c2 against Aronian in the last round and was on the verge of tournament
9-zPLsNPvL-+0
victory after the Armenian didn't find the most accurate response. In Gelfand-Kramnik (7.¥e2), the latter improved
9zP-+-+P+-0 upon the game Aronian-Gelfand played one day earlier, when Black suffered in an unpleasant endgame after
9-+-+-+PzP0 White introduced the strong novelty 16.¤e2! In the diagram position Gelfand attempted to complicate matters by
9+-tRR+-mK-0 sacrificing the ¤ on e6, but the game nevertheless remained balanced. However, Black could also have played
xiiiiiiiiy 18...¢f8 when White also can't count on anything special.

1.d4 ¤f6 2.c4 g6 3.¤c3 d5 4.cxd5 ¤xd5 5.e4 ¤xc3 6.bxc3 ¥g7 7.¥c4 c5 8.¤e2 Grünfeld, 7.¥c4
0–0 9.0–0 ¤c6 10.¥e3 e6 11.dxc5 £a5 12.f4 ¦d8 13.£c2 ¥f8 14.f5 ¥xc5 15.¤d4 XIIIIIIIIY
Last week Grünfeld expert Svidler employed the rare 10...¥g4 11.f3 ¥d7 to deal with the 7.¥c4 variation. Evidently 9r+ltr-+k+0
the ensuing positions aren't that great for Black as this week two other Grünfeld-guru's, Krasenkow and Dominguez, 9zpp+-+p+p0
decided to use another uncommon line. In CVO 136 we briefly discussed 10...e6 which was then seen in the game 9-+n+p+p+0
Laznicka-Navara. Bacrot improved upon our analysis with 13.£c2!, which had the advantage that the £ protects 9wq-vl-+P+-0
e4 in some lines after the black ¦ enters on d4. In the diagram position Krasenkow got into serious trouble after
9-+LsNP+-+0
15...exf5 and quickly went on to lose. Perhaps his position is already dubious, but it seems 15....¤e5 should have
been tried anyway. Dominguez apparently trusts this variation as only two days later he easily managed to defeat
9+-zP-vL-+-0
Harikrishna in a better endgame. It has to be said the Indian GM went for the less critical 11.¦b1, after which Black
9P+Q+-+PzP0
could easily neutralize White's space advantage in the centre. 9tR-+-+RmK-0
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3 of 4
 openings what’s hot and what’s not? 152 | November 30 n 2011

it’syourmove
XIIIIIIIIY XIIIIIIIIY
o 9r+-wq-trk+0 o9r+lwq-trk+0
9+-zp-+pzpp0 9zp-+-zppvlp0
9p+n+lsn-+0 9-zpn+-+p+0
9+pvl-zp-+-0 9+-zP-+-+-0
9P+-+P+-+0 9-+L+P+-+0
9+-zP-+N+P0 9+-zP-vL-+-0
9-zPLsN-zPP+0 9P+-+NzPPzP0
9tR-vLQtR-mK-0 9tR-+Q+RmK-0
xiiiiiiiiy xiiiiiiiiy

lastweek’ssolutions
XIIIIIIIIY
Nepomniachtchi-Nakamura, Tal Memorial (Moscow), 2011 9r+-wq-trk+0
White's opening play looks very artificial with his ¤s on b1 and c3. His idea is to stop Black's active play on the 9+p+-zppvlp0
queenside. In the game Nakamura played 12...¦a5 after which he had the better game as well, but it would have 9-+nzplsnp+0
been even stronger to play 12...a3! trying to exploit the vulnerable dark squares in White’s camp. After 13.¤xa3 9+-+-+-+-0
(after 13.b3 £a5 White finds it hard to complete the development of his pieces on the queenside.) 13...¦xa3!
9p+-+P+-+0
14.bxa3 ¤g4 15.¥d2 ¥d4 Nakamura had missed that after 16.¦e2 he still has 16...¥c4 regaining the exchange
with interest.
9+-sN-+-+-0
9PzPP+-zPPzP0
9tRNvLQtRLmK-0
XIIIIIIIIY xiiiiiiiiy
9r+l+kvl-tr0 Berg-Spoelman, Bundesliga 2011
9+p+n+p+p0 Black's last move, 12...g6?, was a serious mistake, overlooking a tactical shot which in fact wins on the spot.
9p+-+-snp+0 13.¤d5! gxf5 13...¤xd5 wouldn’t have saved Black either: 14.£xd5 ¥b4+ 15.¦xb4 (15.¢e2 0–0 16.¤h6+ also
9+-+-zpNvL-0 wins.) 15...£xb4+ 16.¥d2 £c5 (16...£b1+ 17.¢e2 £xh1 18.£xf7+ ¢d8 19.£e7+ ¢c7 20.£d6+ ¢d8 21.¥g5+
¢e8 22.¤g7#) 17.£xf7+ ¢d8 18.¤g7! with a crushing attack. 14.¤xf6+ ¤xf6 15.¥xf6 and White is winning,
9-+L+P+-+0
due to the threats of 16.£d8# and 16.¥xh8. 15...¥e6 16.¦b3 £a4 17.¥xe6 fxe6 18.¥xh8 ¦d8 19.£e2 ¥b4+
9wq-sN-+-+-0 20.c3 ¥c5 21.¥xe5 ¦d7 22.¦f1 ¥e3 23.£xe3 £xa2 24.¦b6 fxe4 25.¦f6 1–0
9P+PwQ-+PzP0
9+R+-mK-+R0
xiiiiiiiiy

openings
ChessVibes Openings is a weekly PDF magazine that covers the latest news on chess openings. Which openings are hot in
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