ChessBase Magazine #213: A review

by Nagesh Havanur
6/29/2023 – ChessBase Magazine offers a window to the world of professional chess. The latest issue, CBM #214 is out. Meanwhile our columnist, Nagesh Havanur takes a look at a recent issue. 2651 games (47 annotated) from WR Masters and European Championship among others. 12 opening surveys, 3 opening videos, 9 demo. lectures and several exercises for training. Annotators include Levon Aronian, Alexey Sarana, Kirill Shevchenko, Vincent Keymer, Gukesh and Praggnanandhaa among others. The icing on the cake is a feature on Viswanathan Anand with 26 annotated games.
Review of the WR Masters 2023 with analyses from Aronian, Duda, Esipenko, Gukesh, Keymer and Praggnanandhaa. "Special" on Vishy Anand. Opening videos by Mendonca, Bauer and Marin. Opening articles from Caro-Kann to King's Indian and much more.

CBM 213: Aronian on the top and the contest for European crown

Aronian shines

Ever since Aronian settled in the USA, he has found a life ideal for his creative spirit. As he does not try to win every chess tournament, he is free from the anxiety of finishing at the top. It’s one of the reasons why he performed so well in the recent WR Masters Tournament and beat both Nepomniachtchi and Gukesh in the tie-break games to finish first. In this issue he annotates his games with Anish Giri and Praggnanandhaa.

Levon Aronian in the first round against Praggnanandhaa | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Levon has disarmimg modesty, "I always like to learn from young players" as he put it elsewhere in this issue. He is also curious about what his opponent thought during the game and readily shares his own ideas with the latter:

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1.c4 First round! So much excitement and anxiety is connected with it. For a long time I used to play badly in the first round. I am just like Tal , I used to console myself. e5 2.g3 c6 The most principled move. 3.d4 3.Nf3 is the other principled move , but since I was not fully prepared for 1...e5 I decided to play the older line. e4 3...exd4 also leads to equal positions. 4.Qxd4 Nf6 5.Bg2 Na6 6.Nf3 Bc5 7.Qe5+ Be7 but 3...e4 is considered to be the best. 4.d5 The move in the game is more ambitious. Many years ago we analysed this position with Arman Pashikyan and thought that 4.c5 is interesting with idea to meet the obvious b6 with The way to get a fine position for black is to play 4...d5 5.cxd6 Bxd6 and despite e4 pawn looking a bit weak, black is doing fine in all the lines due to fast development. 5.Nc3 bxc5 6.d5 with a slight advantage. In case of 4.Nc3 d5 5.Nh3 black has to play the very precise Bb4 and exchange the bishop for the c3 knight in most of the lines in order to keep the center strong. Since this opening is the reverse of the Sicilian Rossolimo, a common knowledge of the positions is that c1 (c8 in case of black) bishop is the only piece that does not have much prospects. 4...Bb4+ 5.Bd2 Qe7 6.Nh3 There are many options for white, the move in the game is the most standard. Nf6 7.Nc3 cxd5 This came as a surprise. I remembered that 7...0-0 is the most precise move. 8.Nf4 Of course! Otherwise why isn´t 7...cd the best move? Bxc3 Both Prag and I thought 8...dxc4 is very dangerous due to 9.Nfd5 Nxd5 10.Nxd5 Bxd2+ 11.Qxd2 Qe5 12.0-0-0 0-0 13.f4 exf3 14.exf3 with initiative. Were we wrong? I don´t know, maybe black is ok after c3 15.bxc3 Kh8 with the idea to meet 16.Bc4 by b5 and equalize by bringing the bishop to b7 and getting rid of the strong knight on d5. These three black moves c3, Kh8 and b5 are absolutely brilliant. 9.Bxc3 dxc4 10.e3 A dubious move connected with a lapse of memory. Of course the right move is 10. Bg2 . I remembered the main line, 7...0-0 8. Bg2 cd 9.Nf4 dc 10.0-0 Bc3 11. Bc3 Nc6 and assumed, having my bishop on g2 leads to the main line. In reality, white is enjoying a slight edge after 10.Bg2 Nc6 11.Nd5 Nxd5 12.Qxd5 0-0 13.Qxe4 Qxe4 14.Bxe4 a5 15.0-0-0 b5 16.Rd6 Re8 17.f3 Despite the fact that black managed to get some activity, it´s not equal yet, since the d7 pawn is under unpleasant blockade. 10...Nc6 10...d6 was the move that my opponent suggested in the post- game analysis. It does not stop 11.g4 , but gives black an option to draw by Bxg4 12.Bxf6 Bxd1 13.Bxe7 Bf3 14.Rg1 Kxe7 15.Nd5+ Kd7 16.Bh3+ Kc6 17.Ne7+ Kb6 18.Nd5+ Kc6= 11.g4 A good move from a practical sense. I thought 11.Bxc4 d6 12.Nd5 Nxd5 13.Bxd5 0-0 14.Qh5 Bd7 with a plan to prepare Kh8 and f5 is way too solid. 11...h6 A decent move played after a long thought. 11...Ne5 is very tempting and I erroneously thought it´s a nice trap that I set with 11.g4 and after 12.g5 Nf3+ 13.Qxf3 exf3 14.gxf6 gxf6 15.0-0-0 my pieces will perform like Pacman on black pawns. Indeed white´s play is extremely strong , but black has a defence that both players missed. After Qc5 White has to play 16.Rg1 and keep the tension 16.Nd5 is nicely met by d6 17.Bb4 Qc6 18.Nxf6+ Ke7 and black is doing fine. After all, once the c8 bishop comes out to e6, blacks position as my friend Peter Leko would say , becomes cemento. Another possible, but not very intuitive way to play 11...d6 12.g5 Ng4! After 13.Nd5 Qxg5 14.Nc7+ Ke7 15.Nxa8 Black has two options. First, the crazy- looking Nxf2 that can lead to a very irrational position (that is in case white refuses to draw) after , The second option leads to a perpetual after 15...Nce5 16.h3 Nf3+ 17.Ke2 Rd8 18.hxg4 Bxg4 19.Qa4 Qd5 20.Rd1 Ng1+ 21.Ke1 Nf3+= 16.Kxf2 Qh4+ 17.Kg1 Qg5+ 18.Bg2 Qxe3+ 19.Kf1 Qf4+ 20.Ke1 Qh4+ 21.Kd2 Qg5+ 22.Kc2 Qxg2+ 23.Qd2 Qxd2+ 24.Kxd2 d5 25.Bxg7 Rd8 What´s going on here? Will little zerglings compensate for the rook? Not sure if these beautiful lines can be calculated in a practical game by mortals. 12.Bxc4 d6 13.Rg1 Bd7 Mysterious, and decent move. I was expecting 13...Ne5 14.Be2 Be6 that is best met by 15.Qa4+ Bd7 16.Qd4 The two bishops compensate the pawn and after a possible continuation g5 17.Nh5 Nxh5 18.gxh5 Bc6 19.0-0-0 f6 the draw is very probable. 14.Nd5 With the move in the game I was seeking to get the pawn back and I was surprisingly objective in my assesment of the position, thinking the game would slowly glide towards a draw. I saw 14.Qb3 Ne5 15.0-0-0 as an alternative that leads to similar balanced positons. 14...Nxd5 15.Qxd5 Should I lie and say that I saw after 15.Bxd5 0-0 16.g5 hxg5 17.Qh5 Ne5 18.Bxe4 f5 19.Bxb7 g4 black is totally fine despite the material deficit? I played 15.Qxd5 without much thought, and it turned out to be objectevely and subjectevly the right decision. 15...0-0-0 Panicky move and an obvious mistake. Black has many options, but only one good option. 15...Rd8 and 15...0-0 lead to ok positions. but 15...Rc8 would lead to a draw after 16.Bb3 Ne5 17.Qxe4 Bc6 18.Bd5 Bxd5 19.Qxd5 Rc5 20.Qe4 Rc4 21.Qd5 Rc5= 16.Qxf7 Honestly speaking, I thought my opponent blundered the f7 pawn. Losing such a pawn that holds the position together is clearly bringing black on the verge of defeat. Qxf7 The trickier option would be 16...Qg5 counting on 17.Qxg7 The way for White to play for more is 17.h4 Qxh4 18.0-0-0 with black having too many weaknesses to protect. 17...Ne5 18.Bxe5 dxe5 19.Qxg5 hxg5 20.Bd5 Rxh2 21.Bxe4 Rf8 with drawing chances. 17.Bxf7 Ne5 My opponent played this move fast which made me doubt my initial verdict. Then I saw Rc2 ideas and relaxed. I might not win the game, but I would surely enjoy playing this endgame. 18.Bxe5 dxe5 19.Bd5 Bc6 20.Bxc6 bxc6 The last three moves were forced, and now I have a wide choice. 21.Rc1 There are two more plans in this position. After some consideration I decided to keep the g5 idea as a threat and just slowly take care of the e4 pawn. One idea is is to play 21.g5 here. The point is that after hxg5 22.Rxg5 Rxh2 White has the strong 23.Ke2 Rf8 24.Rf1 and starts collecting pawns. The other idea is is to exchange one of the rooks like 21.Ke2 Rd6 22.Rgd1 , but that allows Kc7 and the black king will start protecting the pawn on e4. 21...Rd6 22.Ke2 My plan is simple - Rc2, b3, Rgc1, Rb2, Rc4 and take on e4. Rhd8 Black forces Rc2 and loses a tempo. It was necesary to try and get some activity by playing 22...Kc7 then a5 in order to meet b3/Rb2 plan by a4 bxa4 Rb8. 22...Kc7 23.Rc2 Of course not 23.Rgd1 allowing a counter play in the pawn engame after Rxd1 24.Rxd1 Rxd1 25.Kxd1 Kd7 and the king marches to f6. 23...g5 calculating white´s g5 ideas on every move can be of course very annoying, but now the structure is cristalized and not much can be done in order to distract white from the plan. 24.Rgc1 Kb7 25.b3 Rd5 A mistake, but the position is lost anyway. The normal continuation 25...Kb6 leads to a technical position after 26.Rb2 h5 27.Rc4 hxg4 28.Rxe4 Rh8 29.Rxg4 Rxh2 30.Rxg5 Rf6 31.Kf1 26.Ke1 I can´t explain why I did not play Rb2, but my inacurate move does not change much. R8d6 After 26...Ra5 I would come back to my initial plan with immediate 27.Rb2 or even 27. Kf1 with Rb2 next. 26...Ra5 27.Rb2 27.Rc4 Rd3 Black does not have a move because of tactical reasons. 27...Rd2 loses to 28.Rxc6 28.R1c2 Seeing too many winning moves I relaxed and missed a strong reply. 28.h3 would have been the most precise move. Very silly! 28.h3! 28...Rd1+ 29.Ke2 Rh1 30.Rxe4 Rd5 Here black could get chances of survival by playing 30...Rf6! white has to be cautious and play 31.Rd2 since 31.Rxe5 runs into Rxf2+ 31...Rxh2 32.Kf1 Rh4 33.Kg2 keeping good winning chances. 30...Rxh2 31.Rxe5 Rf6 32.Rf5 31.Rec4 I continued playing sub-optimal moves. 31.Rd2 was the easies solution. 31...Rd6 32.Rb4+ Kc7 33.Rb5 Once again missing . ..Rf6! Why not 33.Rc5? Re6 I was very lucky in this game. 33...Rf6 forced white to play 34.Rbc5 and get a worse version of the same engame after 30...Rf6. 34.Ra5 Rxh2 This was the last moment for Rf6.34...Kb6 did not help black since 35.Rcc5 wins the e pawn. 34...Rf6 34...Kb6 35.Rcc5 35.Rxa7+ Kb6 36.Rf7 There is something cinema like in chess. The sequence of moves starting with 30.Re4 and ending with 36.Rf7 was full of mistakes, and except the players , everbody who followed the game live saw it. e4 37.a4 The king on b6 is an easy target. Rh1 38.b4 All white needs is to take the c6 pawn after which the weak pawns will fall. Ra1 39.a5+ Kb5 40.Rb7+ Ka4 41.Rb6 Rd6 42.Rd2 Rxd2+ 43.Kxd2 c5 44.bxc5 Kxa5 45.Kc3 Ra2 46.Rf6 Ra4 47.Rb6 Ra2 48.Rb2 Rxb2 49.Kxb2 Kb5 50.Kb3 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Aronian,L2736Praggnanandhaa,R26901–02023Duesseldorf WR Masters

This part of the DVD also has a video commentary by Pragg on his game with Giri. There is also a video interview with Gukesh on his game with Pragg. Gukesh was unbeaten in the main event and he lost only one game to Aronian in the tie-break just as it was approaching a draw:

(Source: Chessbase India)

As a result of this game Gukesh came second in the tournament. Nepo’s mind seemed to be elswhere (the forthcoming world championship match that he subsequently lost) throughout the tournament. Yet he managed to finish third in this event which was arranged to give him practice for the title bout that awaited him.

Sarana scores

The European Individual Championship was a colourful event that drew as many as 484 players from the continent:

As is known, this strong event was won by Alexey Sarana who came ahead of Kirill Shevchenko and Daniel Dardha on tie-break after they had all finished with 8.5 out of 11 points.

Sarana and Shevchenko in the last round and they agreed to a quick draw. | Photo: Tournament page

In this issue Sarana annotates his game with Anton Korobov:

A tragic figure in this Championship was Anton Korobov.

Anton Korobov | Photo: Tournament page

He began with a score of 4/4 and then slowed down a bit until he lost this game to Sarana. He was still among the leaders until the last round when he met Daniel Dardha.

Daniel Dardha | Photo: Tournament page

Avoiding a draw at all costs Korobov overreached himself and lost. To his credit his young opponent kept cool under pressure and seized the opportunity to win:

War, politics and chess

One game that deserves attention is the 7th round encounter between Mikhail Kobalia (Russia) and Kirill Shevchenko (Romania):

Mikhail Kobalia (left) and Kirill Shevchenko | Photo: "Chess News without Censorship",

And thereby hangs a tale. According to Kobalia he arrived one or two minutes before the game and did not find his opponent at the table. The arbiter told him his opponent was already there and walking around somewhere nearby. Shevchenko came to the board only after his opponent had made the first move.When Kobalia offered a handshake Shevchenko declined the same. The offended GM called the arbiter and made an angry protest. The arbiter tried to mollify Kobalia, to no avail. The game continued and Kobalia was outplayed, leading to a striking finish. Here is the final phase of the game:

Kobalia could not accept defeat and made an official complaint to the Appeals Committee. Shevchenko was called for an explanation for his conduct before the game. At the end of the day the result of the game stood. Kobalia gave vent to his ire on the FaceBook, but received little support.

The two grandmasters had not known each other and so it was hadly on account of personal animus. The real reason had to do with the public positions both had taken. In fairness to Kobalia he had signed the appeal by 44 Russian GMs to stop the Ukraine war. He was also apalled by the war. When it began he wrote feelingly, "War is death, destruction, suffering... and there are no winners and losers in it, the losers are all... no words to describe my feelings.. this is a nightmare... which happens here and now…"

However, thereafter he has been a spokesman for the Russian Chess Federation to demand lifting the ban on the organisation and he has also been instrumental in obtaining membership of the Asian Chess Federation for the Russian chess body. As for Shevchenko, he was active supporting his motherland, Ukraine till he was forced to emigrate to Romania after a series of bombings on his native city.

By way of post script, I may add that Alexey Sarana, the winner of this Championship happens to be an outspoken critic of the Ukraine war and he has left Russia and settled in Serbia.

A Vishy Anand Special

This issue also carries a special feature on Anand with 26 annotated games. The opponents include world champions, Kasparov, Kramnik and Carlsen, not to mention GMs like Aronian, Timman and Ivanchuk among others. I did miss a few memorable encounters like his win over Kasparov in the 9th round of the World Championship 1995:

There are more than 4200 games of Anand in the BigBase alone. They are worth a look.

Opening videos and surveys

There are 3 opening videos in this issue:

The first offers an introduction to a rare line in the King’s Indian by young Leon Mendonca:

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5.Nf3 0-0 6.Be2 Bg4!? (E91)

The second presents analysis of a line in the Open Catalan by Mihail Marin.

1.d4 Nf6 2. C4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4.g3 dxc4 5.Bg2 c5 6. 0-0 Nc6 7.Ne5 (E04)

The third is a presentation on a line in vogue in the London System by Christian Bauer

1.d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 d5 3.Bf4 c5 4. e3 Nc6 5. Nbd2 Nh5 (D02)

Take your pick.

What is more, there are as many as 12 opening surveys ranging from the Caro-Kann to the King’s Indian. Among them I would single out the analyses on the Rubinstein Variation of the Four Knights Defence and a line for Black in the Carlsbad System.

An old line in the Four Knights

The Rubinstein Variation in the Four Knights often leads to big slugfest in the middlegame. On that score players with White used to avoid this variation in the past. Now a new line is being revived along with the older line 5.Ba4. This line, 5.Bc4 is examined by Martin Lorenzini in this issue. Newcomers unfamiliar with current theory and praxis may wonder why White cannot play the simple 5. Nxe5 and 6.f4 and get away with it. So here is that old line found in books, but seldom seen over the board:

A queen sacrifice in the Four Knights

The Carlsbad System countered

The other opening survey that I found fascinating was the writing by Lars Schandorff on a new line for Black in the Carlsbad System. As is known, this system has always been a formidable weapon for players with White ever since Botvinnik used it with success. The challenge before Black is how to neutralise White’s initiative. Lars Schandorff comes up with 9…Ne8!? a pradoxical retreat seen way back in Spielmann-Reti, Berlin 1928. In recent years Carlsen has also played it on account of a desire to experiment. Here is a model game by two Chinese grandmasters and I have kept the analysis simple so that novices can also follow:

Besides opening surveys, this issue has standard features on tactics, strategy and the endgame. Here I would single out Karsten Müller’s demo. lecture on king and pawn endings. He is lucid and it’s a treat to learn the final phase of the game from him.

Last, but not least, we have Jan Markos’ demo lecture on the topic, "How to play lost positions". Practical advice for the tournament player.

Summing up

The main database of the issue has 2651 games of which 47 are deeply annotated.There is much else in this DVD that deserves to be explored. Apart from the players I have already mentioned, the commentators include Ruslan Ponomariov, Jan Duda, Andrey Espipenko and Vincent Keymer among others.

It may be noted that there are more annotated games in the opening and training sections of this issue.

Well, practice makes perfect.

Notes:

1) Here is a link to the official site of the European Individual Championship:

2) There are several other interesting games from the European Championship in this issue. Here I would mention just two of them, Guliyev-Kollars and Nesterov-Gurel. The first game is long, and the mayhem begins after 35 moves. The second game also takes an astonishing course, and I was surprised to learn that the first 20 moves have a precedent in an earlier game, Kramnik-Van wely, Tilburg 1998.

3) GM Kobalia’s version of his encounter with Kirill Shevchenko is here:

4) The Russian chess site, "Chess News without Censorship" took a different view

ChessBase Magazine #213

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Prof. Nagesh Havanur (otherwise known as "chessbibliophile") is a senior academic and research scholar. He taught English in Mumbai for three decades and has now settled in Bangalore, India. His interests include chess history, biography and opening theory. He has been writing on the Royal Game for more than three decades. His articles and reviews have appeared on several web sites and magazines.
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