Fortress or failure?
Black to move - can he attack the fortress successfully?
Solution
1.c4 c5 2.Nc3 g6 3.Nf3 Bg7 4.g3 Nc6 5.Bg2 e5 6.0-0 d6 7.a3 a5 8.d3 Nge7 9.Rb1 0-0 10.Nd5 Nxd5 11.cxd5 Nd4 12.Nd2 Bg4 13.Re1 a4 14.h3 Bd7 15.e3 Nf5 16.Ne4 b5 17.b4 axb3 18.Qxb3 Qa5 19.Bb2 Qa6 20.Ra1 Ne7 21.f4 c4 22.Qd1 f5 23.Ng5 Rfc8 24.dxc4 bxc4 25.Rc1 Rab8 26.Bc3 Rb3 27.Qd2 Rxc3 28.Rxc3 e4 29.Rec1 Qa5 30.R3c2 Qxd2 31.Rxd2 c3 32.Rdd1 c2 33.Rd2 Ba4 34.Nxe4 Bb2 35.Rcxc2 Rxc2 36.Rxc2 Bxc2 37.Nxd6 Bb3 38.e4 Bxa3 39.Nb7 fxe4 40.d6 Bd5 41.dxe7 Bxe7 42.Na5 Bb4 43.Nb3 Bxb3 44.Bxe4 Kf7 45.Kg2 Bd6 46.Kf3 Kf6 47.Ke3 h6 48.h4 Bc5+ 49.Ke2 h5 50.Kf3 Be6 51.Kg2 Bf5 52.Bd5 Ke7 53.Bf3 Ke6 54.Bb7 Kd6 55.Bf3 Bb4 56.Kf2 Kc5 57.Bd1 Kd4 58.Be2 Bc5 59.Bd1 Kd3+ 60.Kg2 Ke3 61.Ba4 Be4+ 62.Kh2 Kf2 63.Bb3 Be3 64.Ba4 g5‼ 64...Kf3?! 65.Bd1+ 64...Kf1?! 65.Bb5+ 64...Bd3?! 65.Bc6 65.fxg5 65.hxg5 h4! 66.gxh4 Bxf4+ 67.Kh3 Bf5# 65.Kh3?! Bg2+ 66.Kh2 gxh4 67.gxh4 Bxf4# 65...Bd4 66.Bd1 Be5 67.Bxh5 Bg2 67...Bg2 68.g6 Bxg3# 0–1
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| Kovalenko,I | 2661 | Gabuzyan,H | 2553 | 0–1 |
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Opening surveys
Sagar Shah: English Opening A20
1.c4 e5 2.g3 Nf6 3.Bg2 h6
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White does without Nc3, so as to avoid ...Bb4. According to Sagar Shah in 3...h6 Black has a sort of useful waiting move, ...Nc6 is delayed. After 4.Nc3 Bb4 5.Nd5 Nxd5 6.cxd5 we can see a difference – Black does not need to move his Nc6.
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Souleidis: Double Fianchetto A50
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nf3 Bg7 4.g3 b6 5.Bg2 Bb7 6.0-0 0-0
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According to Georgios Souleidis this setup is becoming more and more popular for Black. Above all after 7.Nc3 – the usual move - 7...Ne4 one can safely count on equality. After the stronger 7.d5 Black even has two promising continuations with 7...Ne4 and 7...Na6.
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Sumets: Old Indian Defence A54
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 d6 3.Nc3 Nbd7 4.Nf3 e5 5.Bg5 Be7 6.e3
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A setup with e3 is not so aggressive, but in return it also offers fewer targets for the opponent to attack. For example, White does not have to protect a pawn on e4. As Andrey Sumets demonstrates, Black does not find it easy to equalise after 6...0-0 7.Be2.
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Ris: Sicilian Defence B35
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 g6 5.Nc3 Bg7 6.Be3 Nf6 7.Bc4 0-0 8.Bb3 d5
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This comes as a surprise. After all the d5-pawn is simply hanging. But as Robert Ris demonstrates in his article, 9.exd5 Na5 may be obvious, but after it the way to an advantage for White may be possible but, however, it is not easy to find over the board. |
Szabo: Sicilian Defence B90
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be3 e5 7.Nb3 Be6 8.f3 Be7 9.Qd2 0-0 10.0-0-0 Nbd7 11.g4 b5 12.Rg1
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With 12.Rg1 White deviates from the main variation (12.g5). One of the ideas can be seen after 12...b4 13.Nd5 – now Black cannot take on d5 with the knight, because the Be6 does not have access to the f5-square. As Krisztian Szabo shows, however, that is not the only idea behind 12.Rg1.
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Havasi: French Defence C06
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.Bd3 c5 6.c3 Nc6 7.Ne2 cxd4 8.cxd4 f6 9.exf6 Nxf6 10.0-0 Bd6 11.Nf3 0-0 12.Bf4 Bxf4 13.Nxf4 Ne4
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In this principled variation – there is little occasion to deviate – White may have a slight initiative after 14.Qc1, but according to Gergo Havasi Black can maintain the equilibrium with accurate play.
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Marin: French Defence C08
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 c5 4.exd5 exd5 5.Bb5+ Nc6 6.Qe2+ Be7 7.dxc5 Nf6 8.Nb3 0-0
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With the two checks on moves 5 and 6, White is trying to impose on the play a forcing character. But as Mihail Marin’s analyses prove, Black can stand up to the pressure quite well.
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Kuzmin: Slav D11
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 Bg4 5.h3 Bh5 6.g4 Bg6 7.Ne5
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The actual idea behind the clear opening plan presented by Alexey Kuzmin has not yet been executed in the diagram: White wants to play Nd2 and then, without having to worry about the c4-pawn, be able to develop his bishop to g2.
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Postny: Queen's Gambit D38
1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 Bb4 5.Bg5 h6 6.Bxf6 Qxf6 7.e3 0-0 8.Rc1 dxc4 9.Bxc4 c5 10.0-0 cxd4
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The position in the diagram has been seen in several recent games and Evgeny Postny examines the latest trends. His conclusion: the white initiative is only temporary, Black can have high hopes of equalising.
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Stohl: Semi-Slav/Catalan E04
1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 c6 4.Nc3 e6 5.g3
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It starts with the Semi-Slav and transposes to the Catalan. For Igor Stohl it is clear that Black should take the c4-pawn, but after that there are still some open questions.
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Krasenkow: Bogo Indian Defence E11
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Bb4+ 4.Nbd2 b6 5.a3 Bxd2+ 6.Bxd2 Bb7 7.Bg5 d6 8.e3 Nbd7
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Michal Krasenkow presents his own repertoire against the Bogo-Indian. In the second part he deals with the main variation of this system. It is not easy for Black to achieve complete equality.
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