openings 163 | February 15 n 2012

what’s hot and what’s not?

XIIIIIIIIY
White specialists 9rsnlwqk+-tr0
9zppzp-zppvlp0
9-+-zp-snp+0
9+-+-+-+-0
9-+PzPP+-+0
9+-+-+P+-0
9PzP-+-+PzP0
By IM Merijn van Delft & IM Robert Ris
9tRNvLQmKLsNR0
xiiiiiiiiy
Frequency
After seven rounds of the Aeroflot Open Eljanov and
Bartel were leading with 5.5 out of 7, ahead of Korobov,
Iordachescu and Melkumyan on 5. Caruana headed a large
group of players on 4.5.

what'shot?
Score
Caruana shows no mercy when he has the white pieces, mainly
relying on 1.e4. He beat Bocharov (Paulsen, see below), Itturizaga
(Caro-Kann), Khairullin (Taimanov) and Melkumyan (QGD, see
below). Korobov has been very impressive with 1.d4, beating Jankovic
(Nimzo-Indian), Solak (Slav), Caruana (Benko Gambit) and Rodshtein
(Grünfeld). As we already mentioned in CVO 52, Jobava plays even
more aggressively with 1.d4. In Moscow, he's beaten Robson (Grünfeld
3.f3), Ponkratov (King's Indian Four Pawns), Bocharov (Queen's Indian
Petrosian) and drawn against Sokolov (Nimzo-Indian). In our Game of
the Week, Khismatullin played the rare 5.¤e2 in the diagram position
against Zhou Jianchao.

Last week we mentioned Ju Wenjun's games in the provocative 13...

0-0!? line of the Najdorf. This week she scored another impressive 1.5
out of 2 with it against strong opposition, while adding another win with
the 6.¥e3 ¤g4 Najdorf. This makes her one of the leading experts in this
dynamic opening. Negi-Shomoev was a topical Polugaevsky Variation
of the Najdorf: see the exercise on p.4. Socko beat Robson with 9.g4
against the Dragon. Zherebukh won a good game against Vallejo's Source: Megabase + TWIC, 2500+ only
French. Szabo-Zhigalko is a completely new approach to the Caro-
Kann Panov Variation, which we cover below.

Playing Black hasn't been easy this week, especially at the top of the Aeroflot tournament. That can be seen from Caruana's two losses
with Black, while he won all his white games. In the seventh round Eljanov beat Korobov, who misplayed a Semi-Slav Meran. Right
next to him Caruana completely lost his way in a Slow Slav and was duly beaten by Bartel. Nisipeanu
didn't care about that general trend, though, beating Zhigalko with the fascinating novelty 6...¤c6!??. what’snot?
1 of 4
 openings what’s hot and what’s not? 163 | February 15 n 2012

Shuffling the pieces in the Sämisch

White’s standard setup in the Sämisch Variation is quite well-known: put a pawn on f3, play
¤c3, ¥e3, £d2 and possibly even castle queenside, then start an attack on the kingside. As
we’ll see, White can modify this a little.
gameoftheweek Khismatullin - Zhou Jianchao

Khismatullin,D (2664) - Zho Jianchao (2619) its effect, since after 12.cxb5 axb5 13.¥xb5 Probably the decisive mistake. After 24...¥xf5
Aeroflot Open (Moscow), 08.02.2012 White's minor pieces neutralize Black's activity 25.exf5 £b7 26.¦g2! White also seems to be
E60, King's Indian, Sämisch on the queenside. winning. However, Black should have tried
12.¥d3 ¤b6 24...gxf5! 25.g6 hxg6 26.¦xg6 ¥e8 27.¦hg1
1.d4 ¤f6 2.c4 g6 3.f3 ¥g7 This move is an attempt to generate ¦a7 28.exf5 £b7 29.¦xg7+ £xg7 30.¦xg7+
Grünfeld players shouldn't be discouraged counterplay on the queenside, but it takes a ¦xg7 with a balanced game, as neither side
and can play 3...d5 anyway. We covered the lot of time. Attention has to be paid to both can really improve his position.
consequences in CVO 19, 57 and 148. 12...¤f4!? and 12...f5. 25.gxf6 £xf6
4.e4 d6 5.¤e2 13.g3 ¥d7 14.¥h6 ¥xh6 15.£xh6 ¤a4 25...¥xf5 26.exf5 e4 loses to 27.fxg6.
A rarely seen idea. White delays taking a 16.¤e2 b5 17.g4 ¤g7 18.b3 ¤b6 19.h4 £e7 26.h5 ¥xf5
decision on where to develop his ¤ on b1. 20.¦dg1 26...g5 hardly helps in view of 27.¦xg5+ ¢h8
5.¤c3 leads to the starting position of the 20.h5? is premature because of 20...g5. The 28.¦g6 £f7 29.¦hg1 ¥xf5 30.exf5 ¦a7 31.¦e6
Sämisch Variation. pawn on d6 is perfectly protected by the £ on and White is winning.
5...0–0 6.¥e3 c6 e7. 27.hxg6
Black has previously tested two other 20...bxc4 21.bxc4 Much stronger than 27.exf5 g5 when Black
alternatives. 21.¤xc4?! ¤xc4 22.¥xc4 ¥b5 plays into can struggle on.
a) 6...¤c6 7.£d2 a6 8.¤a3 ¦b8 (8...¦e8 9.¤c2 Black's hands. 27...¦a7
b5 10.¤c3 b4 11.¤d5 a5 12.¥e2 e5 13.¤xf6+ 21...¤a4 22.¤g3 f6 27...¥xg6 28.£xh7#.
¥xf6 14.d5 ¤b8 15.c5 clearly favoured White 22...¦ab8!? also comes into consideration, as 28.exf5 ¢h8
in Volkov-Kurnosov, Ulan Ude 2009.) 9.¦d1 23.g5? now loses to 23...£d8! 24.h5 £a5–+ In case of 28...e4 29.gxh7+ ¢h8 30.fxe4 White
(9.g3 ¥d7 10.¥g2 b5 11.¦c1 bxc4 12.¤xc4 d5 23.¤c2 is instead a better attempt, with a lot is too many pawns up, while Black doesn't
13.¤e5! ¤a7 14.¤xd7 £xd7 15.e5 and White still to play for. have any real threats.
got the upper hand in Ivanisevic-Nestorovic, 23.g5 £f7 29.¥e4!
Kragujevac 2011.) 9...¦e8 10.¤c2 b5 11.cxb5 XIIIIIIIIY Not the only move, but it avoids trouble of any
axb5 12.b4 e6 13.¤c3 ¥d7 14.¥e2 ¤e7 15. 9r+-+-trk+0 kind on the long diagonal.
0–0 with an edge for White in Vitiugov-Ezat, 9+-+l+qsnp0 29...¦g7 30.¤c2
Ningbo 2011. 9p+-zp-zppwQ0 The ¤ is heading for g4.
b) 6...a6 7.¤ec3 c6 8.c5 ¤bd7 9.¤a3 b5 30...£d8
9+-zpPzp-zP-0
10.cxb6 £xb6 11.£d2 ¦b8 12.¤c4 £d8 was Allowing White to finish the game in style,
seen in Ivanisevic-Stellwagen, Khanty-
9n+P+P+-zP0 though other moves wouldn't have saved
Mansiysk 2010 and now 13.¤a4! with the idea
9sN-+L+PsN-0 Black either.
of 14.¤a5 looks better for White. 9P+-+-+-+0 XIIIIIIIIY
7.¤a3 9+-mK-+-tRR0 9-+-wqntr-mk0
The idea of White's setup. 7.¤bc3 would still xiiiiiiiiy 9+-+-+-trp0
transpose to an ordinary Sämisch. 24.¤f5!? 9p+-zp-+PwQ0
7...e5 A spectacular move, though objectively
9+-zpPzpP+-0
Evidently White had intended to answer 7...a6 speaking it would have been better to play
with 8.c5! when the ¤ is better off on a3 as it 24.h5 fxg5 (24...¦ab8? fails to 25.£xh7+!
9n+P+L+-+0
can jump to c4. ¢xh7 26.hxg6+ ¢xg6 (26...¢g8 27.gxf7+
9+-+-+P+-0
8.d5 a6 9.¤c3 c5 wins for White) 27.¦h6+ ¢xg5 28.¤f5+ ¢f4 9P+N+-+-+0
After 9...cxd5 10.cxd5 b5 11.¤c2! followed 29.¦g4+ ¢xf3 30.¦g3+ ¢f2 31.¦h2+ ¢e1 9+-mK-+-tRR0
by 12.a4 White gets the upper hand on the 32.¦g1#) 25.hxg6 £xg6 26.¤f5 ¥xf5 27.exf5 xiiiiiiiiy
queenside. £xh6 28.¦xh6 ¤e8 29.¦xg5+ ¢h8 30.¤b1! 31.£xh7+ ¦xh7 32.¦xh7+ ¢g8 33.g7!
10.£d2 ¤h5 11.0–0–0 ¤d7 and White is on top. Black resigned as there's nothing that can be
The typical pawn sacrifice 11...b5?! has lost 24...¤e8? done against 34.¦h8. 1–0

2 of 4
 openings what’s hot and what’s not? 163 | February 15 n 2012

thisweek’sharvest
Sicilian, Paulsen 1.e4 c5 2.¤f3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.¤xd4 a6 5.¥d3 ¤f6 6.0–0 e5 7.¥g5 h6 8.¥xf6 £xf6 9.¤f5 g6 10.¤e3 ¥c5
XIIIIIIIIY 11.b4 ¥a7 12.¤a3 d6 13.¤ac4 ¤c6 14.£d2 £d8 15.c3 b5 16.¤b2 0–0 17.a4 ¦b8 18.axb5 axb5 19.¤d5 ¢g7
9-trlwq-tr-+0 Opening variations develop quickly nowadays: since Svidler revived the remarkable 6...e5!? line in the Paulsen
9vl-+-+pmk-0 (more can be found on that in CVO 151), Caruana has tried to beat the line with White (Caruana-Nakamura,
9-+nzp-+pzp0 Reggio Emilia 2012, draw), successfully added the line to his black repertoire (Topalov-Caruana, Wijk aan Zee
2012, 0–1), and now, it seems, he's dealt a serious blow to the line as White (Caruana-Bocharov, Aeroflot 2012,
9+p+Nzp-+-0
1–0). All this in only a few weeks. In the past it needed months, if not years, to do the same. Generally White has
9-zP-+P+-+0 to fight for the initiative (before the black bishop pair starts to count), find optimal squares for his knights and thus
9+-zPL+-+-0 keep some kind of bind. Not an easy task, but starting with the gambit move 11.b4! looks like a strong novelty.
9-sN-wQ-zPPzP0 The follow-up 12.¤a3! recalls our Game of the Week, and by the time the diagram position was reached White
9tR-+-+RmK-0 enjoyed a serious edge, which Caruana skillfully converted. Is the 6...e5 line too crazy after all?
xiiiiiiiiy

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.c4 ¤f6 5.¤c3 ¤c6 6.¥g5 ¤e4 7.¤xe4 dxe4 8.d5 ¤e5 9.£d4 f6 10.£xe4 £b6 Caro-Kann, Panov
White's hopes in the Panov Variation are mainly based around 6.¥g5, since the well-known endgame arising XIIIIIIIIY
after 6.¤f3 is fine for Black. Szabo-Zhigalko was a highly important theoretical game played this week, 9r+l+kvl-tr0
potentially putting 6.¥g5 out of business. With 6...¤e4 Black plays a Grünfeld-style move, leaving the white ¥ 9zpp+-zp-zpp0
hanging in the air. It's amazing that this move had previously been so unpopular, with 6...e6 and 6...dxc4 the 9-wq-+-zp-+0
main lines. In an old Velimirovic game 7.cxd5 ¤xc3 8.bxc3 £xd5 9.¤f3 ¥g4 10.¥e3 was played, but Black can
9+-+Psn-vL-0
improve here with 10...e5! ensuring full counterplay. White's important alternative 8.¤e2 hasn't yet been tested,
but here as well Black seems to be OK after 8...¥g4 9.£c2 ¥xe2! 10.¤xe2 £xd4. In the diagram position White
9-+P+Q+-+0
felt that developing ¥c1 at such an early stage may have been premature. The first new move 11.¥e3 was a
9+-+-+-+-0
mistake, handing Black the initiative. The game took quite a lot of moves, but well within the first twenty it was 9PzP-+-zPPzP0
clear that Black already had the upper hand. At the moment we don't see any improvements for White. 9tR-+-mKLsNR0
xiiiiiiiiy

QGD, Exchange 1.c4 e6 2.¤c3 d5 3.d4 ¥e7 4.cxd5 exd5 5.¥f4 c6 6.e3 ¥f5 7.g4 ¥e6 8.h4 ¤d7 9.g5 h6 10.g6
XIIIIIIIIY fxg6 11.¥d3 ¤f8 12.¤f3 ¥f5 13.¤e5 ¤f6 14.¦g1 ¤e4 15.¥xe4 ¥xe4 16.¤xe4 dxe4 17.£b3
9r+-wqksn-tr0 Something has gone completely wrong for Black in the diagram position, as his light squares are permanently
9zpp+-vl-zp-0 weakened. Melkumyan managed to trade £s with 17...£a5 18.¢f1 £b1, escaping into a pretty bad ending
9-+p+-+pzp0 for Black. However, had Caruana played 18.¢d1 0–0–0 19.¦c1! Black's position would have been absolutely
hopeless. In a topical line of the Exchange Variation of the Queen's Gambit Declined, Black deviated with 10...
9+-+-sN-+-0
fxg6, whereas after 10...¤gf6 Morozevich and Giri soon went on to repeat moves. Surprisingly, Aronian's young
9-+-zPpvL-zP0 second lost his way after deviating, which may indicate he wasn't prepared for 9.g5 at all. 12...¥f5? allows White
9+Q+-zP-+-0 to seize the initiative in the centre with 13.¤e5! and therefore Black should instead improve with 12...¥g4. The
9PzP-+-zP-+0 decisive mistake came only two moves later when Melkumyan erred with 14...¤e4?, whereas 14...¦g8 had to
9tR-+-mK-tR-0 be tried. In spite of the fact that Caruana could have converted his advantage sooner the outcome of the game
xiiiiiiiiy was never in doubt.

1.d4 ¤f6 2.c4 e6 3.¤c3 d5 4.¥g5 ¥e7 5.¤f3 h6 6.¥xf6 ¥xf6 7.e3 0–0 8.¦c1 c6 QGD, 6.¥xf6
9.h4 ¤d7 10.g4 ¦e8 11.g5 hxg5 12.hxg5 ¥xg5 13.¤xg5 £xg5 14.f4 £g3+ 15.¢d2 XIIIIIIIIY
Early flank attacks are part of many different openings nowadays. Curiously enough, in the 6.¥xf6 line of the 9r+l+r+k+0
Queen's Gambit Declined it was Botvinnik who introduced the h-pawn advance on move 9 back in 1944. 9zpp+n+pzp-0
Since he got into serious trouble with White early on his idea wasn't adopted by his contemporaries. Last year 9-+p+p+-+0
it was the Armenian wizard Aronian who attempted to breathe new life into this variation. Carlsen drew the
9+-+p+-+-0
game comfortably, though his 9...c5 doesn't look as great as it worked out for him. Apparently Aronian and his
second Melkumyan had drawn the same conclusion as the latter repeated the line and outplayed Russian GM
9-+PzP-zP-+0
Khismatullin in great style. In the PGN-file you can see some amazing variations showing how Black could have
9+-sN-zP-wq-0
survived with correct play starting with 15...£f2!. Obviously it's not to everyone's taste to find only moves in order 9PzP-mK-+-+0
to restore the balance, and therefore an improvement earlier on would be welcome for Black. 9+-tRQ+L+R0
xiiiiiiiiy
3 of 4
 openings what’s hot and what’s not? 163 | February 15 n 2012

it’syourmove
XIIIIIIIIY XIIIIIIIIY
O 9-sn-+k+-tr0 O9-+-trk+-tr0
9+-+-+pvlp0 9zpp+nsn-vlp0
9p+-+p+-+0 9-wq-zp-+p+0
9+p+-+-sN-0 9+-zpPzplvL-0
9-+PtrQ+-+0 9-+P+N+-+0
9+-+-+-+-0 9+Q+-+-zPP0
9q+-+L+PzP0 9PzP-sN-zP-+0
9+R+-+RmK-0 9tR-+-mKL+R0
xiiiiiiiiy xiiiiiiiiy

lastweek’ssolutions
XIIIIIIIIY
Dzagnidze-Svidler, Tradewise Festival (Gibraltar), 2012 9rsnlwqk+-tr0
White's last move was a serious inaccuracy. 5...¤h5! Black fights for the initiative from the word go. 5...0–0 9zppzp-zppvlp0
has been played more often, but doesn’t take advantage of the chance. 6.¥g5 h6 7.¥h4 c5! Again the most 9-+-+-snp+0
aggressive move. 8.e3 8.¤xd5 ¤c6 (8...g5!?) 9.e3 was seen in the stem game Korchnoi-Vaganian, Reggio 9+-+p+-+-0
Emilia 1987, and here Black was also doing very well after 9...cxd4. 8...cxd4 9.exd4 dxc4 9...¤c6! also makes
9-+PzP-vL-+0
a strong impression. 10.¤f3 0–0 11.¥xc4 ¥g4 12.0–0 ¤c6 Black has completed his development and makes full
use of his strong initiative: 13.d5 ¤d4 14.¦e1 ¥xf3 15.gxf3 £c7 16.¥f1 £f4 17.¥g3 ¤xf3+ 18.¢h1 £f6 19.¦e3
9+-sN-+-+-0
¤xg3+ 20.fxg3 ¤d4 21.¥h3 £g5 22.£d3 ¦ad8 23.¦ce1 e5 24.dxe6 ¤xe6 25.£e2 ¥d4 26.¦f3 ¦fe8 27.£c4
9PzP-+PzPPzP0
£c5 28.£b3 ¤g5 29.¦xe8+ ¦xe8 30.¦f1 ¥xc3 31.bxc3 b5 and Black won. 9+-tRQmKLsNR0
XIIIIIIIIY xiiiiiiiiy
9rsn-wqk+-tr0 Matlakov-Grigoryan, Moscow Open, 2012
9zp-+-zppvl-0 A pretty balanced position has arisen. Black's main trump is his queenside majority, while White should strive
9-+p+-+pzp0 for activity on the other side of the board. The following operation therefore fits perfectly into that strategy.
9+-+nzP-+-0 16.e6! A thematic idea, aiming to spoil Black’s pawn structure. 16...f5? Black understandably attempts to keep
the kingside closed. Grigoryan might have overlooked White’s next move. Also bad would be 16...fxe6 17.£d3
9Pzp-zP-+-+0
¢f7 18.bxc3 bxc3 19.¥g4 and White has a powerful initiative. Relatively the best move is; 16...0–0 though after
9+-zp-+-sN-0 17.exf7+ ¦xf7 18.£c2 White also retains the better chances. 17.¥h5! £b6 The point is 17...gxh5 18.£xh5+ ¢f8
9-zP-+LzPPzP0 19.£f7#. 18.¥xg6+ ¢d8 19.¤xf5 White is now just winning and although Black kept playing on for quite a while
9+RvLQ+RmK-0 the final result was never in doubt.
xiiiiiiiiy

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
for € 28 a year (that’s less than € 0.60 per issue!). More info can be found at ChessVibes.com/openings.

© 2009-2012 ChessVibes. Copyright exists on all original material published by ChessVibes. Any copying or distribution (reproduction, via print,
electronic format, or in any form whatsoever), as well as posting on the web, is strictly prohibited without prior written permission.

4 of 43