openings 237 | July 17n 2013

what’s hot and what’s not?

XIIIIIIIIY
Mamedyarov wins 9r+lwqkvl-tr0
9zppzpn+pzpp0

Grand Prix in Beijing

9-+-zp-sn-+0
9+-+-zp-+-0
9-+LzPP+-+0
9+-sN-+N+-0
9PzPP+-zPPzP0
IM Robert Ris
9tR-vLQmK-+R0
xiiiiiiiiy
With 7 out of 11 Mamedyarov won the fifth leg of the Grand Frequency
Prix series. Topalov shared third place and cannot now be
overtaken in the overall standings, so is assured of a place
for the 2014 Candidates' competition.

what’shot?
Score
Mamedyarov had quick wins against both Giri and Topalov. After
preparing the strong move 10...c5! in the Grünfeld, the Dutchman got
confused and made a terrible blunder which brought the game to an
abrupt end. Topalov obtained a nice position with Black from a Nimzo-
Indian, but two mistakes enabled the Azeri to trap his opponent's ¤. Both
games are covered in depth below.

Wang Hao-Giri featured a spectacular piece sacrifice on move 7 in the

Philidor. Although Black quickly lost track, matters weren't all that clear
and for that reason we have chosen it to be our Game of the Week. Giri
didn't get much out of Topalov's Caro-Kann, but won in 23 moves as the
Bulgarian got in trouble with his light-squared ¥.

In Van Kampen-Pruijssers White revealed some deep home preparation

in the Jaenisch and finally converted his advantage in the endgame
(page 3). In the main line of the Ruy Lopez with 9.d4 Ernst quickly got
in trouble against the well-prepared Smeets. Wang Yue won a strategic
game against the solid Vienna with 5.g3 versus his compatriot Wang Hao
(see below). Topalov didn't get much from Wang Yue's pet Slav and even
had to be careful not to come off worse. Ivanchuk didn't show anything Source: Megabase + TWIC, 2500+ only
new in the Rubinstein Variation of the Nimzo against expert Leko.

Karjakin couldn't follow up his wonderful start to the tournament. Against Mamedyarov he lost a § in the Petroff (5.¤c3) and eventually
lost a drawn £ ending (CVT 116). Four rounds later he returned to the main line Petroff against Wang Yue, but missed a great opportunity
to obtain an advantage. With White he misplayed the Taimanov against Topalov and lost hopelessly. Leko
avoided a theoretical battle against the Queen's Indian and outplayed his opponent in the long run. what’snot?
1 of 4
 openings what’s hot and what’s not? 237 | July 17n 2013

A crushing Philidor or a bad Najdorf?

The Philidor opening is normally rather quiet but in this game it soon transformed into what
resembled a sharp Najdorf (with Black still having a c-pawn!). Correct or not, after the piece
sacrifice Giri nevertheless lost in 22 moves!
gameoftheweek Wang Hao - Giri

Wang Hao (2752) - Giri,Anish (2734) Nabaty-Nevednichy, Albena 2013. 15...¢e8?

FIDE Grand Prix (Beijing), 11.07.2013
C41, Philidor
1.d4 d6 2.e4 ¤f6 3.¤c3 e5 4.¤f3
Another possibility is to play the queenless
middlegame after 4.dxe5. In CVO 18 opening
expert Vachier-Lagrave won a model game.
4...¤bd7 5.¥c4 exd4
It's more usual to keep the central tension with
the developing move 5...¥e7. However, in the
last round of the same event Morozevich got
crushed by Topalov with this. The text has
recently come into fashion.
6.£xd4
This looks more challenging than 6.¤xd4
when Black obtains more control over the
central dark squares.
6...¥e7
XIIIIIIIIY
9r+lwqkvl-tr0
9zppzpn+pzpp0
9-+-zp-sn-+0
9+-+-zp-+-0
9-+LzPP+-+0
9+-sN-+N+-0
9PzPP+-zPPzP0
9tR-vLQmK-+R0
xiiiiiiiiy
7.¥xf7+!?
A well-known sacrifice in this opening, but
this particular position had never previously
appeared in a grandmaster game. Earlier
this year two alternatives were tried: 7.0–0
0–0 8.¦d1 (8.¦e1 a6 9.a4 ¤e5 10.¤xe5 dxe5
11.£xd8 (11.£xe5 ¤g4 12.£f4 ¥c5 13.¦e2
¥e6!? deserves attention.) 11...¦xd8 with
equality in Djukic-Ivanisevic, Skopje 2013.)
8...¤b6 9.¥e2 ¥e6 10.¥f4 ¤fd7 11.£e3 ¦e8
12.¤d4 ¥c4 13.¥f3 ¥f6 14.b3 ¥a6 15.£d2
¤e5 with equality in Van Kampen-Ivanisevic,
Skopje 2013. 7.¥f4 0–0 8.0–0–0 ¤b6 9.¥b3 a5
10.e5 dxe5 (10...a4! is rather unclear.) 11.£xd8
¥xd8 12.¤xe5² and Black was suffering in
7...¢xf7 8.¤g5+ ¢e8
Other moves lose on the spot: 8...¢g8 9.£c4+
d5 10.¤xd5+–; 8...¢f8 9.¤e6+ winning the £;
8...¢g6 9.f4 followed by 10.f5 with a powerful
attack.
9.¤e6 c5 10.£d1
The best square for the £, whereas 10.£d3?
¤e5! abruptly ends the game.
10...£b6 11.¤xg7+
A spectacular line is 11.¤d5!? ¤xd5 12.¤xg7+
¢f7 (12...¢d8 allows 13.¤e6+ ¢e8 14.£h5#)
13.£h5+ ¢g8! and Black is on top, but not
13...¢xg7? which runs into 14.¥h6+ with mate
on the next move.
11...¢f7 12.¤f5 ¥f8
Giri refrained from playing 12...¤e5 13.¤xe7
(13.¤d5?! ¤xd5 14.£xd5+ ¢e8 is unclear,
Maric-Sahovic, Belgrade 2010.) 13...¢xe7
14.¥g5 as he didn't like the pin, e.g.
14...¥e6 15.f4 ¤f7 16.¥xf6+ ¢xf6 17.£d2
with nice attacking prospects for White.
13.0–0 d5!
An attempt to solve all Black's development
problems in one. Inferior is 13...¤e5? in view
of 14.¥g5 ¥e6 15.¥xf6 ¢xf6 16.f4 with a
strong attack for White. A serious alternative
is 13...¦g8 and now after, for example, 14.¤d5
£c6 15.¥f4 ¤e5 16.¤xf6 ¢xf6 17.¥xe5+ dxe5
18.£f3 ¥xf5 19.£xf5+ ¢g7 20.£xe5+ £f6
Black doesn't seem to be worse.
14.¤xd5
Perhaps more challenging is 14.exd5!?
¤e5 15.¤g3 with quite a complex position.
14...¤xd5 15.£xd5+
XIIIIIIIIY
9r+l+-vl-tr0
9zpp+n+k+p0
9-wq-+-+-+0
9+-zpQ+N+-0
9-+-+P+-+0
9+-+-+-+-0
9PzPP+-zPPzP0
9tR-vL-+RmK-0
xiiiiiiiiy
Strangely enough, Black didn't go in for the
endgame after 15...£e6! 16.¤h6+ (16.£d3
¦g8 doesn't look too dangerous.) 16...¥xh6
17.£xe6+ ¢xe6 18.¥xh6 b6! when it's not
so simple for White to mobilise his kingside
majority.
16.¥g5 £g6?
Things go downhill pretty fast for Black.
Instead he should still have tried to swap
£s with 16...£c6 but that would have led to
a clearly worse version compared with the
previous note.
17.¦ad1 ¦g8 18.f4 a5
If 18...h6 Wang Hao intended to proceed with
19.¤h4 (19.e5! is even stronger.) 19...£f7
20.£e5+ ¥e7 (20...¤xe5 21.¦d8#) 21.£xe7+
£xe7 22.¥xe7 ¢xe7 23.¤f5+ with an
overwhelming advantage for White.
19.e5!
XIIIIIIIIY
9r+l+kvlr+0
9+p+n+-+p0
9-+-+-+q+0
9zp-zpQzPNvL-0
9-+-+-zP-+0
9+-+-+-+-0
9PzPP+-+PzP0
9+-+R+RmK-0
xiiiiiiiiy
19...£xf5
19...¦a6 wouldn't have saved Black after
20.e6! ¦xe6 21.¦fe1 ¢f7 22.¤d6+ ¥xd6 23.f5
and White wins.
20.£xg8 ¦a6
If 20...£f7 21.£xf7+ ¢xf7 22.¦de1 White's §s
will be on a roll.
21.¦fe1 ¦g6
21...¦e6 can strongly be met by 22.¦d6!.
22.e6!
A beautiful finish to this miniature, leaving
Black in a hopeless situation. After 22...¦xg8
23.exd7+ ¢f7 24.d8£ White still has a
powerful attack as well as extra material. 1–0
2 of 4
 openings what’s hot and what’s not? 237 | July 17n 2013

thisweek’sharvest
Ruy Lopez, Jänisch 1.e4 e5 2.¤f3 ¤c6 3.¥b5 f5 4.d3 fxe4 5.dxe4 ¤f6 6.0–0 ¥c5 7.£d3 ¤d4 8.¤xe5 £e7 9.¤f3
XIIIIIIIIY From a positional point of view, the Jänisch is a very sound opening for Black since in many lines he retains
9r+l+k+-tr0 the advantage of an extra central §. On the other hand Black temporarily neglects basic opening principles
9zppzppwq-zpp0 and often he suffers from a lack of development. Therefore White needs to play ambitiously in order to fight
9-+-+-sn-+0 for the initiative. In the variation with 4.d3 and 7.£d3 many black players grab the chance to offer a favourable
9+Lvl-+-+-0 exchange of ¤s with 7...¤d4. In CVO 144 the model game Adams-Radjabov was analysed in greater detail to
9-+-snP+-+0 demonstrate Black's possibilities in this line. In the game Van Kampen-Pruijssers White avoided the exchange
of the ¤s and snatched the § on e5. After 8...£e7 9.¤f3 Black decided to regain the § with £xe4, allowing White
9+-+Q+N+-0
to seize the initiative in the queenless middlegame. A crucial idea behind White's strategy appears after 9...¤xb5
9PzPP+-zPPzP0 when he has the sharp 10.b4!?, because 10.£xb5 doesn't pose Black too many problems after 10...¤xe4.
9tRNvL-+RmK-0
xiiiiiiiiy

1.¤f3 d5 2.d4 ¤f6 3.c4 e6 4.¤c3 dxc4 5.g3 a6 6.¥g2 ¤bd7 7.0–0 ¦b8 8.a4 ¥b4 9.£c2 Vienna/Catalan hybrid
0–0 10.¦d1 b5 11.axb5 axb5 12.¤e5 ¤xe5 13.dxe5 ¤d7 14.¥e3 ¥b7 15.¥xb7 ¦xb7 16.£e4 XIIIIIIIIY
We have reported on the latest ideas in the Vienna (which would appear after 5.e4 ¥b4 6.¥g5) several times, 9-+-wq-trk+0
but there is still no consensus on which line offers White the best practical chances for obtaining an advantage. 9+rzpn+pzpp0
Rather than delving too deeply into the position on move 20, Wang Yue opts for a more practical approach by 9-+-+p+-+0
steering the game into a Catalan-like position with 5.g3. Often in these kind of hybrid systems the ¤ on c3 9+p+-zP-+-0
doesn't seem to be very useful after Black has captured on c4. Wang Hao's answer can't be considered the 9-vlp+Q+-+0
critical test of White's set-up as, in the diagram, Black is forced to play 16...c6 which finally leads to an ending
9+-sN-vL-zP-0
where White can play risk-free for an advantage. Wang Yue eventually outplayed his opponent in great style
by exploiting the isolated doubled e-pawns. From a theoretical point of view I rather like a game played by
9-zP-+PzP-zP0
Kaidanov in 1990. After his 5...c5 I can't see a plan for White which makes use of White's early development of
9tR-+R+-mK-0
his queen's ¤ to c3. xiiiiiiiiy

Grünfeld, 5.£a4+ 1.d4 ¤f6 2.c4 g6 3.¤c3 d5 4.¤f3 ¥g7 5.£a4+ ¥d7 6.£b3 dxc4 7.£xc4 0–0 8.¥f4
XIIIIIIIIY c6 9.e4 b5 10.£b3 c5 11.dxc5 £a5 12.¥d2 b4 13.¤d5 ¤c6 14.¥d3 ¥e6 15.¤g5
9r+-+-trk+0 In Mamedyarov-Giri the strong 10...c5! by Black was overshadowed by a horrible blunder. In the diagram
9zp-+-zppvlp0 White has just played 15.¤g5?! but Giri got his analysis mixed up, being absolutely sure that this move had
9-+n+lsnp+0 to be answered by bringing one of the ¦s to d8. If only he hadn't fixated on this idea, he would surely have
9wq-zPN+-sN-0 eliminated the d5 ¤ with 15...¥xd5 16.exd5 ¤e5! - the PGN shows that, if anyone was better, it was Black.
9-zp-+P+-+0 Instead, Mamedyarov even proposed 15.¥g5 as an interesting alternative, but it seems that Black is alright after
the strong 15...¤d7!. Critical is 15.0–0!?, when play becomes quite sharp, but with precise play Black should be
9+Q+L+-+-0
able to hold everything together. Giri's new idea probably derives from a recent game by Le Quang Liem who
9PzP-vL-zPPzP0 employed the same thrust against the other £ retreat, 10.£d3. After the blunder White grabbed a second § with
9tR-+-mK-+R0 16.¤xe6 fxe6 17.¤xb4 and Black was left with no hope of counterplay.
xiiiiiiiiy

1.d4 ¤f6 2.c4 e6 3.¤c3 ¥b4 4.£c2 0–0 5.¤f3 c5 6.dxc5 ¤a6 7.g3 ¤xc5 8.¥g2 ¤ce4 9.0–0 ¥xc3 10.bxc3 d5 11.¤g5
¤d6 12.cxd5 exd5 13.¦d1 ¥f5 14.£b3 h6 15.¤h3 ¥xh3 16.¥xh3 ¦e8 17.¥g2 ¦xe2 18.¥xd5 ¤xd5 19.£xd5 £f6 20.¥f4 Nimzo-Indian, 4.£c2
The Classical Variation (4.£c2) of the Nimzo-Indian with 5.¤f3 has been serving White quite well lately. In CVO XIIIIIIIIY
213 we concentrated for the most part on the fashionable line 9...¤xc3 10.bxc3 ¥e7, but in this game Topalov 9r+-+-+k+0
decided to take with his ¥. His idea worked out well for him as his ¤s gained firm control over the centre. The 9zpp+-+pzp-0
active placement of Black's forces offer various tactical possibilities. White is not without chances either but, 9-+-sn-wq-zp0
in the diagram, Black went astray with 20...¤e4, initiating an operation which finally cost him a whole piece. 9+-+Q+-+-0
Instead 20...¤f5! 21.£xb7 ¦ae8 would have given Black fantastic play for his slight material investment. After
9-+-+-vL-+0
the game Mamedyarov admitted that he had simply underestimated the strength of Black's 15...¥xh3!. However,
it's hard to imagine that this new approach refutes the whole system. Both players agreed that 11.¤g5? was a
9+-zP-+-zP-0
most unfortunate continuation which simply misplaced the ¤ after 11...¤d6!. Instead, stronger is 11.¤d2! when
9P+-+rzP-zP0
White has better chances of exploiting the advantage of the ¥ pair. 9tR-+R+-mK-0
xiiiiiiiiy
3 of 4
 openings what’s hot and what’s not? 237 | July 17n 2013

it’syourmove
XIIIIIIIIY XIIIIIIIIY
o 9-+-trk+-tr0 o9r+-wqk+ntr0
9+pwqnvlpzp-0 9+p+-+pzpp0
9p+p+psnp+0 9p+nzpl+-+0
9+-zPp+-+-0 9+-+-zp-vl-0
9QzP-zP-+-+0 9-+P+P+-+0
9+-sN-zP-zP-0 9+-sN-vL-+-0
9P+-+-zPLzP0 9PzPN+-zPPzP0
9tR-vLR+-mK-0 9tR-+QmKL+R0
xiiiiiiiiy xiiiiiiiiy

lastweek’ssolutions
XIIIIIIIIY
Giri-Leko, FIDE Grand Prix (Beijing), 2013 9r+lwqr+k+0
Black has to seek compensation for his isolated d-pawn. Leko's next move completely neutralises White's 9+p+-+pzpp0
ambitions to increase the pressure. 15...¥d6! Leko was quite happy with this move since, after a normal 9-sn-+-sn-+0
developing move such as 15...¥e6 16.¤a4! ¤xa4 17.£xa4, White retains a pleasant advantage. 16.¤ce2 9zpPvlp+-+-0
After this move Black obtains a very comfortable position. 16.¤a4 is less effective now in view of 16...¤xa4
9-+-+-+-+0
17.£xa4 ¤g4! 18.¥e2 (18.£d4? is met by 18...¥e5) 18...£g5 and Black is fine. 16...g6 White is unable to take
advantage of the weakened dark squares around the black ¢. 17.¦ad1 ¥d7 18.£b1 ¤a4 19.¥a1 ¥e5 20.¦c1
9zP-sNLzP-sN-0
£e7 21.¥xe5 £xe5 22.£c2 ¤b6 23.£c5 ¤a4 24.£c2 ¤b6 25.£c5 ¤a4 ½–½
9-vLQ+-zPPzP0
9tR-+-+RmK-0
XIIIIIIIIY xiiiiiiiiy
9r+l+k+-tr0 I.Sokolov-Van Kampen, Dutch Championship (Amsterdam), 2013
9+pzp-+p+-0 Black has good control over the dark squares and the e5 square, but on the debit side the § on h4 is about
9-+-zp-+pvl0 to fall and his ¢ is stuck in the centre. How should he proceed? 16...£e7? After this retreat things go rapidly
9zp-snPwq-+-0 downhill for Black. Instead he should have opted for 16...0–0! and now, after 17.£xh4 £d4+! (17...¥g7 18.¤e2!
is less convincing.) 18.£f2 ¥g7, Black has sufficient compensation for the §. 17.e5! dxe5 The other recapture
9-+P+PsN-zp0
17...£xe5 runs into 18.¦e1 18.d6! £f6 Taking the § doesn't offer salvation either: 18...£xd6 19.¤xg6! fxg6
9+-+-+-+P0 20.£f7+ ¢d8 21.¥xh6 ¦xh6 22.¦ad1 and White wins, or; 18...cxd6 19.¤d5 and Black can't deal with all the
9PzPL+-wQP+0 threats. 19.£xc5 exf4 20.¥a4+ 20.¥a4+ and Black resigned, as he can't avoid the loss of material, e.g. 20...¢f8
9tR-vL-+RmK-0 (20...c6 21.¥xc6+! bxc6 22.£xc6+ and White wins.) 21.d7+ and White wins the ¥. 1–0
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 € 30 a year (that’s less than € 0.60 per issue!). More info can be found at ChessVibes.com/openings.

© 2009-2013 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