Opening Secrets amram Anti-Najdorf/Dragon (B50) Sicilian Najdorf and Dragon Variations arto ofthe sharpest openings against 1e4, Alot of players teve headaches over fiw to deal tvth tese two variations, because they both come with deeply analyzed iincorfes. instead of facing these two ta pening there native by playing the Ant Najdort/ Dragon. ack inthe sles, the legendary pat Keres and Bent Larsen used to Surprise their opponents occasionally swith the AntiNajdor!/Dragon. Today, Anan sn vagina play onc in awhile what are the basie plans ior White? White takes the initiative right away fon Move 4. By trading the epawn for fhe d-pawn, White determines the pave tructure. usually Whites dark- jared bishop develops on the Fchngest dhagonal with b2-3 then Bb2 Mheether bishop ends up either on G8 supporting a kingside attack or on {5 pagting the astht agonal [What are the basic plans for Black? IT Black plays just all the natural oves, Whe may get an eal deve pment position for the pieces. There- {re Black must watch early on to prevent White’ ideal setup. The trade Brie ight aquared bishops afton helps Black So what is the verdict? [White aime io avoid the extremely Sharp and complicated open Sicilian Sariations with a clear alternative plan-If Black does not take White's Flan geriousy, Black can quickly get {nto difficulties, On the other hand, jwith accurate piay, Black can equalize “The starting moves of the Ant Nalddort/Dragon are: Ted co 2. NEB d6 3 Ne3 Ni6 4 €5 tris not late for White to transpose ack tothe regular open Sicilian with Mit cad 5 Nada, but the whole point ft'ae3 i to get Black out of theory nd avoiding the Dragon and the Najdort “ines 5 Nxeb following diagram) Iwthis position, Black usually chooses dne from the following three popular responses 5.26, 5..e6 oF Bu Nbdz 32 Chess Life—Mareh 2005, Variation A) 5.28 '..Ne6 would be a visible mis- take as it allows White to trade on o6 and ruin Black's pawn, structure. ‘aa Anatural answer to pre vent any future ideas of b7-b5 and also at times to play adas, targeting the b6-square. 6...e7 (diagram) is an Pntereating move that even Garr Kasparov tried, tithough only in Simultaneous exhibition game Benge would be a mistake. 7 Bet fordek the weakening of the dark equares in Black's camp. 7.061038 mot ute heathy to move both find gepawns 30 early in the game Black darkesquared bishop ean nly develop on one diagonal and fen the otter agonal will remain weakened, Sb. Bg? 9 d3 0-0 and White is better ether after 10 Bas Qd6 11 Nigd Nagd 12 Qagé Na? 13 ht Qe7 WSiedRea 15 Ber 6-16 Nd6 Braga Giara Melendez, Sao Paulo 1977) jor to Ret ae? 11.Qi3 Nbd7 12 Ba thnandTopalot, Prance 2003), ‘eG, Both Anand and Zva}ginsev tried plans connected to g2¢3 with- Gutmuch suceess. On the other hand {nthe following game White managed to geta promising sup with 7 b3 Bee's bbz 009 bd3 Nba? 10 Ned Nds Ti OON7i6 12 Ret a7 13 a5 Bob 14 NeS Nba 15 Nuc Nxeb 16 Ned Mes 17 f3 ikenic-K. Georgiev, Nis 1981) "7 Nea Neo 8 ba bo 9 Bds bz after 6...Qe7 10 0-0 Nba 11 Be2 g6 12 Bb2 Bg7 Black 13 Bia 0-0 14 Bxb7 Oxb7 an has equalized (Reyes-Kasparov, Lima 1993), Variation B) eo 1eacs2Ni3 |. dg 3 Nes Nie 4 {2 les dxes 5 Nxe5 6 (diagram) Here Whi has a choi pursue similar plans as after 5..Nbd7 or to go onan inde- pendent road with 6 Bb5= 6 Be2 White tried to open up the asition quickly with 6 Bose Nody 7d ater 7 dt {diagram} but Black does not seem to have a problem alter 7...cxd4, (Black could face some difficulties after Fea6 8 Bxd7* Nxd7 9 OhS Nxes 10 ces, However, 7...Be7 is also okay) 8 (Oud a6 9 Bud7* Nad? 10 Be3 Of6 11 [4 Bes 12 Qd2 Bxe3 13 Qxe3 Nxes 14 fxe5 Qhd+ 15 43 Qhs: (Ljubojevie-Kasparov, Tilburg 1989). ‘6..Be7 7 0-0 0-0 8 Bia Nbd7 9 Ned ND6 10 Ned White has a pretty solid position, "This is how the game continued [Kores-Ree, Wijk aan Zee 1969) 10.-Nbd7 11 da xd 12 Oxda Ned 13 Ofa Bd7 14 ba Naa 15 Nxad Bxad 16 Bb2 Bes 17 Ridt Oc8 18 Be2 bG 19 c4 RdS 20 a3 a8 21 b5 Bb7 22 ha Nd7 23 Ngt ie 24 hs Qes 25 he gs 26 xs Racs 27 Rd3 Bea 26 Rd4 Bis 29 Radi Oc7 30 Qxe7 Rxe7 31 Ne3 Bg6 32 BIS BeS 33 Bee Kt7_ 34 Rads f5 35 g3 Kg6 36 Ret Ki7 37 Nxfs oxi 38 BdS+, 1-0. Variation C) 5..Nbd7 This is the most popular response accord 2), ingto my dat | Ra ie & a base, i guar ‘ idagram ‘after 6 Ne4 "Trading knights instead would give up any hope to fight forthe initiative. ter 6 Nxa7 Bd the black bishop {would appear on e6 next with a.com: Tortable position Here again Black ean choose which way to develop the darksquared bishop. 1.06 6.6 allows an unusually early and interesting attack with 7 Ge2 The threat is obvious: smoth- fered mate on d6. F.ND6 (black isin real big rouble after 7.,Q¢7 8 NDS followed by 9 Ned6*. After 7..NbS White can cause further commotion with 8 Qe3) 8 Qe3 puts Black on the defensiv6..ND6 Black is chasing after the white knight Here, White can choose among three diferent plans 2) Ignore Blacks offer to rade and continue developing with 7 bs jon? Bea b) An original plan that Timm. employed in thevollowing game: > Off e6 8 ba Be? 9 Bb2 NxcA 10 Bac a6 11a (preventing any future bros) 11..00 12 gat? lan lnteresting move whieh strongly seminds me ot my ame versus Chiburdanidee from she atest Olympiacl-see the January 2005 fee of Gl). Ger 18 gh Nob 14 Nea a7 15 as Bes 16 hax Nab 17 Oca Nis 18 Nor Bxl6-19 gx g6 20 000 Bs 21 ha Byes 22 x04 Gvas 23 hs Ries 24 Bhi Qb4 28 hinge tage 25.-hage 26 Aha) 26 t7» katy 27 Mahe Kyse2s Hah with a winning atack (Taman Christoph, Hengelo 1970), Of course, not ail the above was forced. Black Can prove a various place But nevertheless, White has good practi cal chances ) Decline the offer to trade and move the knight away with 7 Ned Ba7 S'04 Be 9 Bbs Res. I Black trades on 13 Instead, White captures back with the apawn putting pressure on the arspawn and activating the rook in the corner right away 10.00.66 Gea Be? 12.08 Nbd?'13 46 be 14 Bxce Me6 15 Nbs Qs 16 b3 00 17 bbe and White is better (Priby!-Kovacs, Decin 1976) 6.46 would be answered with the typical a4 preventing br-bs "7'Be2 Recently Anand versus Cebato ferance 2003) tried 7 gs but (QUERN'S PAWN GAME (pos) 'W: IM Solozenkin B: IMSemkov Berga, 1992 4 da ds 2.04 e6 3 Nfs c6.4 03 NIG 5 Nc8 Nbd7 6 Bd3 Be7 0-0 0-0 8 Qe2 dxc4 9 Bxea b5 10 Bda ba 11 Nea os 12 Nxfg+ Nxi6 13 dxe5 Bb7 14 e4 Nd7 15 66 Bxcé 16 Rdt Qbe 17 Bes Bes 18 Ract Racs 19 Nes Bxe3 20 Rxoe Bxi2+ 21 Kit A Nxestt (diagram) Wer 2}-.NowSt Black is a pawn up but if he makes the “natural” move 21...Axc6 then following 21...Rxc6 22 Nxd7 Qe? 23 Naf Bb6 24 Nd7! Qxd7 25 BbS Qe7 26 Bxc6 Oxc6, he doesn't have more got no advantage after 7...Be7 8 Bg2 10-0 9 0-0 Nb6 10 Ne3 RDé 11 a4 Nbds 12.d3 Nxe3 13 bxe3 b6 14 64 Bb7. bathing aT orto: [My RET ter for White in aki z2| thefolowing |&® 22m f game between | ew £ two famous play- | x 2% RENO Jers: 7..Be7 8 Bb2 |) | 0-0 9 Gf3 Rbs 10 | iy ‘ ‘ad b6 11 Bd3 Bb7| P28, 28) 12.Qh3 a6 13 00 AZ (ciara ater 300 15..Be6 14 Bietites 15 Nes Nes 16 Rxes and White developed an unpleasant attack 1 gonad het hr 15 fs Bg 19 Kx Ogb 20 Kh Ogos 21 ds) 17 Baa Que? 16 Re O48 Bs xb 20 Nas Naa 21 act Rede? 22 ta) Bie 23 Oxgs za iage faba as es" (tarsen- Copenthag 1966) ‘Now back to the position after 7'e2(alagram) 7..Be7 8 0-0 NBG 9 ba 0-0 10 [Bb Nbas 11 bla Nac 12 Byes Nds 19 Bb2 BIG 14 Nes Oc? 15 Ret Ras ffottowing diagram “This position was teaehed in two different games Ina recent game, White improved lover an older game where White con- tinued with 160¢1 bdr 17 da exda 18 ler, after 7 Bed than a bishop and pawn for @ rook and White is slightly berter. But black is able fo exploit the mobility of his ieoes and establish « superiority 22 Fixbe Bxbe Black has sacrificed the queen for a rook plus knight plus pawn and a better position, because {he black bishop without a counters part renders the white king shaky. 23 g3 White wants to get his king toa better place, 23,h8 Black is sacrificing his extra pawn. If White declines it with 24 kg2, the 24... when 25 gxh4 go 26 hs Ke? ievery’ rong, threatening 27. .Ahe, 24 Oxh5 Nada 25 Reds Rea The heginning of the end; the first coor dination berween the Black pieces, hhas been established with the arrival ‘fone of the rooks on the second rank. 26 Ket g6 27 Qhe Ries 28 #4 Rg2t The mating net is being Spread, 20 Rha Bda 30 Qh7+ kts Bxds Bes 19 04 Nev 20 Bea IKeres~ nobotsoy Tallinn 1970) 16 Bea Nea 17 Of Ngo 18 Bago hxge 19, abd? 20 nea ace 21 Raet Bes 22 a4 be 25 Oha Rds 24 mM [ eR Ge AAG BS il et Taher 15.,.RaB ¢4 Rd6 25 His Qds 26 Rea Bgs 27 Rg3 Bes 28 Rega Bis 29 Kia Bes 50 Naget fxg6 31 Bxie gate 32 Rha Kis 33 Hh7 BI7 34 Qh6+ Kes 35 Fai Kxl7 36 Oxg6+ Ke? )37 Qh7+, 1-0. (Zvjaginsev-Wojtkiewicz, Tripoli World Championship 2004) CONCLUSION [The Anti-Dragon/Najdort is definitely Jan excellent surprise weapon. If Black just casually develops, White can achieve a comfortable setup with promising attacking chances. Therefore, I would recommend Variation A: 5...a6 6 ad Qc7 for Black. Don't forget to request the opening you would fie tose hy ending your Fequest to PolgarchessClubeaol com. ‘The opening with the most requests will be our next opening of the ‘month, Ifyou have suggestions to ‘make this eolumn more enjoyable, Please feel free to email us. for your Inormation, even though we aré not able to respond to each request, we 20 read al your email and we sin cerely value your personal input. bby Rudy Blumenfeld 34, QhG+ (After 31 Ohs+ Bxhs 32 Axh8* Kg7 33 Rees Rxh2 Black wins easily) 31..Kg8 32 Qh7+ Kis a3 Qh6+ Kes 34 Of4 Rec2 [Better ‘Was 34...BeS (35 Qxes (35 Qe3 Ricc2 36 {YS ixb2 and Black has all the winning chances, 36...Rc1# ]| 35 ‘Kd More resistance was offered 35 Rf3. 35...Rxb2 The three black pieces coordinate decisively with two deadly threats: 36...Rg1=, 36...Rb1+. All that is left for White is to give as many checks as he can. 3edbe: kay a7 Qh Kas 38 Qbs+ Kd7 39 Ob7+ Kd 40 e5+ Kxes 41 Qe7+ Kds 42 Qd7+ Kea 43 Qc6+ Be8 44 Qea+ Or 44 Qas+ Kd 45 Rd3+ Kes. 44..Kb5 45 Ket Or 45 Qb7> Bhs 46 Qd7 Kas, or 45 3 Ka5 46 Qd8- Bbé, 45..Fixa2_ Alter 46 Kb1 Rae2 47 Qd3+ Kas 48 Qd8+ Bb6 49 Qdt comes 49...Rgl. White resigns. March 2005-Chess Life 33